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SliernL 


,  Pas  Muhammed 


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MENEPIITA,  THE  SUPPOSED  PHARAOH  OF  THE  EXODUS. 

From  Lepsius’s  “  Denkmaler.” 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 

THROUGH  SINAI 

THE  WILDERNESS  AND  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY 


OBSERVATIONS  OF  A  JOURNEY  MADE  WITH 
SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE 

HISTORY  OF  THE  ISRAELITES 


BY 

S.  C.  BARTLETT,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE,  AND  LATELY  PROFESSOR  IN 
TIIE  CHICAGO  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


WITH  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEAV  YORK 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS 

FRANKLIN  SQUARE 

1879 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1879,  by 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


The  present  volume,  and  the  journey  which  it  records, 
were  undertaken  with  a  somewhat  definite  purpose.  A 
large  number  of  industrious  and  acute  investigators  have 
been  engaged  for  many  years  in  unfolding  the  antiquities 
of  Egypt;  and  many  judicious  and  learned  travellers  have 
recorded  their  observations  upon  the  Sinaitie  Peninsula  and 
the  Wilderness  of  the  Wandering.  These  investigations 
have  cast  great  light  upon  the  history  of  the  Israelites,  as 
related  to  these  regions,  until  it  has  become  practicable  to 
place  the  narrative  of  the  Pentateuch  at  least  approximately 
in  its  historic  and  geographical  surroundings.  These  results 
lie  widely  scattered.  Many  persons  have  desired  to  find 
them  gathered  up  compactly,  and  passed  in  review  by  some 
one  who  should  possess  the  requisite  knowledge  of  these 
discoveries  and  theories,  and  sufficient  personal  cognizance 
of  the  scenes  and  facts  to  do  it  with  some  degree  of  intelli¬ 
gence  and  unity  of  view. 

This  object  the  writer  has  endeavored  to  subserve.  In 
company  with  three  intelligent  and  observing  friends — Pev. 
Jacob  Chamberlain,  M.D.,  missionary  in  India ;  Pev.  E.  M. 
Williams,  of  Minneapolis;  and  Edwin  J.  Bartlett,  A.M.,  of 
Chicago,  now  Professor  in  Dartmouth  College — he  travelled 
from  Alexandria  to  Beyrout  by  the  routes  herein  recorded. 

As  other  travellers  had  commonly  expressed  opinions 
drawn  only  from  the  special  routes  they  had  travelled,  he 


6 


PREFACE. 


made  it  a  point  to  examine  personally,  between  Suez  and 
Sinai,  each  of  the  several  lines  of  travel  which  have  been 
ascribed  to  the  Israelites,  and  with  the  facts  and  opinions 
before  him  to  judge  for  himself.  The  observations,  and 
commonly  the  opinions,  were  shared,  as  they  were  greatly 
aided,  by  these  companions.  It  may  explain  the  minuteness 
of  statement  on  many  points  to  say  that  the  writer  had  spe¬ 
cially  in  mind  the  difficulties  which  have  been  raised  con¬ 
cerning  the  possibility  of  such  a  journey  as  that  described  in 
the  Pentateuch — difficulties  with  which  his  studies  had  made 
him  long  familiar ;  and  that  his  observations  were  somewhat 
steadily  directed  toward  ascertaining  the  actual  and  possi¬ 
ble  condition  of  those  regions,  and  the  correspondence  here 
between  the  land  and  the  Book.  The  same  practical  aim 
shaped  his  inquiries  throughout  the  journey.  He  endeav¬ 
ored,  in  view  of  all  that  had  been  discovered  and  conject¬ 
ured,  to  judge  fairly  for  himself  on  the  spot.  It  was  no 
part  of  his  purpose  to  indulge  in  exaggerated  descriptions 
for  the  sake  of  “  fine  writing,”  nor  to  advance  novel  theo¬ 
ries  for  the  sake  of  sensation.  Ho  doubt  a  lar^e  class  of 

*  o 

readers  would  eagerly  welcome  a  volume  filled  with  such 
novelties  as  that  of  Piazzi  Smyth,  who  finds  in  the  Great 
Pyramid  a  divinely  revealed  standard  of  metrology,  found¬ 
ed  on  the  exact  dimensions  of  the  earth;  or  that  of  Brugsch, 
who  would  lead  the  Israelites  along  the  Serbonian  bog;  or 
that  of  Mr.  Forster  and  others,  who  converted  the  Haba- 
thean  inscriptions  of  Wady  Mukatteb  and  elsewhere  into 
records  written  by  the  Israelites  themselves ;  or  that  of 
Beke,  who  in  1874  was  fitted  out  with  money  from  Eng¬ 
land,  and  with  a  steamer  by  the  Khedive  of  Egypt,  to  seek 
Mount  Sinai  east  of  the  Gulf  of  Akabali. 

What  is  needed  is  not  new  theories;  nor,  perhaps,  can  it 
be  now  expected  that,  in  the  region  of  Sinai  and  the  Wilder- 


PREFACE. 


I 


ness,  any  one  traveller  shall  add  much  to  the  knowledge  of 
essential  facts.  This  could  be  accomplished  only  by  labori¬ 
ous  and  protracted  explorations,  prosecuted  by  expeditions 
fitted  out  at  very  heavy  cost.  To  the  careful  records  of 
many  learned  observers,  from  the  days  of  Burckhardt,  have 
been  added  the  recent  researches  of  the  British  Ordnance 
Survey  and  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  furnishing  am¬ 
ple  materials  for  the  intelligent  traveller  to  combine  with  his 
own  observations,  and  thus  to  form  the  basis  of  intelligent 
opinions. 

On  returning  to  America,  the  writer  had  access  to  all  the 
principal  treatises  on  Egypt,  Sinai,  and  Palestine,  including 
not  only  books  of  travels,  but  such  works  as  the  Denkmaler 
of  Lepsius,  and  his  other  publications ;  together  with  those  of 
Diimichen,  Brugsch,  Mariette,  Leemans,  Chabas,  and  oth¬ 
ers — a  donation  to  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary  from 
the  Bev.  E.  M.  Williams.  He  trusts  that  he  has  used  these 
sources  of  information  discreetly,  but  no  man  could  claim  to 
have  done  it  exhaustively.  Ilis  aim  has  been  to  give  liis 
readers  a  knowledge  of  the  present  state  of  the  case,  and  the 
means  of  knowing  more.  ITis  own  views  he  has  freely  ex¬ 
pressed,  while  holding  all  subject  to  revision,  should  more 
light  come.  It  is  altogether  probable  that,  in  dealing  with 
so  wide  a  range  of  facts  and  opinions,  he  has  fallen  into 
some  errors.  These  he  will  gladly  correct.  A  meteorolog¬ 
ical  record  was  kept,  and  many  measurements  and  compu¬ 
tations  made,  by  Edwin  J.  Bartlett,  A.M. 

The  author  owes  his  thanks  for  courtesies  to  many  persons 
at  home  and  abroad.  He  desires  particularly  to  mention  his 
obligation  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  W.  Blatchford  and  Rev.  E.  M. 
Williams,  for  aid  and  encouragement  with  reference  to  the 
journey.  His  acknowledgments  are  also  due  to  Gen.  Charles 
P.  Stone,  chief  of  staff  to  the  Khedive  of  Egypt,  for  kind  at- 


8 


PREFACE. 


tention  and  use  of  instruments  belonging  to  the  government. 
Unforeseen  hinderances  have  delayed  the  publication  of  the 
volume  many  months  after  its  preparation.  Nothing  has 
meanwhile  fallen  under  the  notice  of  the  author  calling  for 
any  changes  of  statement,  nor  diminishing  the  usefulness  of 
such  a  work. 

Some  perplexity  has  been  experienced  in  regard  to  the 
orthography  of  the  geographical  names,  which  is  still  unset¬ 
tled.  There  is  not  only  a  German  and  an  English  method 

*j  O 

quite  prevalent,  but  individual  travellers  of  each  nation  have 
their  own  methods  of  representing  these  Arabic  names. 
Thus,  the  orthography  of  Palmer  is  diverse  from  that  of 
Eobinson,  and  Dr.  Porter’s  (as  represented  in  Murray’s 
Guide-book)  often  different  from  both.  Moreover,  in  quot¬ 
ing  from  different  travellers,  it  was,  in  some  instances  at 
least,  deemed  undesirable  to  change  their  method  of  repre¬ 
senting  the  name.  The  author  preferred  to  leave  this  di¬ 
versity  to  some  extent,  rather  than  to  attempt  the  functions 
of  an  arbiter  and  bring  all  to  a  fixed  standard,  until  at  least 
that  standard  should  be  agreed  upon  better  than  it  is  at 
present. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.  page 

To  Antiquity .  18 

CHAPTER  II. 

To  THE  E^st .  26 

CHAPTER  III. 

Egypt  and  the  Nile .  39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Pharaoh . 65 

CHAPTER  V. 

Traces  of  Contact  between  Israel  and  Egypt .  98 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Land  of  Goshen .  129 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Exodus .  155 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Wells  of  Moses,  Maraii,  and  Elim .  185 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Encampment  by  the  Sea,  and  the  Wilderness  of  Sin .  208 

CHAPTER  X. 

Egyptian  Mines,  and  the  Written  Valley .  218 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Wadies  Feiran  and  ITebran,  Mounts  Serbal  and  Sinai .  238 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Region  of  the  Law-giving .  265 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Mysterious  Encampment .  285 


io 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAGE 

The  Northern  Route,  by  Sarabit  el  Khadim .  300 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Desert  of  the  Wandering  . .  317 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Desert  of  the  Wandering — Continued .  335 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  South  Country .  350 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Through  the  South  Country  to  Beer-siieba .  379 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Hill-country  of  Judaii . 405 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Holy  City . 423 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

To  Jericho .  443 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  Line  of  Joshua’s  March . 455 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Through  the  Battle-fields  of  Palestine . 469 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

From  Nazareth  to  Gennesaret . 480 

'  CHAPTER  XXV. 

On  and  Around  the  Sea  of  Galilee .  493 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

From  Gennesaret  to  the  Coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon .  512 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Coming  out  of  Antiquity  and  the  East..  ..  . .  528 

APPENDIX .  547 

INDEX .  551 


MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


Menephta,  the  supposed  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus . Frontispiece 

Alexandria .  27 

Street  in  Cairo .  31 

Street  in  the  Bazaar  at  Cairo .  34 

Modern  Shadoof .  44 

Section  of  the  Great  Pyramid .  53 

The  Pyramids . .  54 

Great  Hall  at  Karnak .  57 

Wooden  Statue — referred  by  Mariette  Bey  to  the  Fourth  Dynasty .  67 

Egyptian  Art .  71 

Jutaha  Melek .  99 

Suez  Canal  and  Eastern  Egypt .  148 

Map  of  Eastern  Egypt  and  the  Route  of  Israel .  156 

Map  of  the  Red  Sea  Crossing,  showing  Various  Theories .  161 

The  Northern  End  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez — from  the  Map  of  the  Maritime 

Canal  Company .  168 

Map  of  Wady  Maghara .  218 

Snefru — Chufu  (Cheops) :  Tablets  in  Wady  Maghara .  222 

Wady  Mukatteb .  227 

Sinaitic  Inscriptions,  Wady  Mukatteb .  229 

Strata  in  Wady  Feiran,  one-twentieth  of  the  Natural  Size .  239 

Oasis  in  Wady  Feiran .  244 

Plan  of  the  Oasis  of  Feiran .  245 

Ordnance  Survey  Map  of  Mount  Serbal . Faces  248 

Jebel  Serbal .  262 

Ordnance  Survey  Map  of  Mount  Sinai . Faces  266 

Ras  Sufsafeh,  the  Northern  End  of  Sinai .  275 

Gate  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Catherine . .  279 

Beer-sheba . . .  380 

El  Aujeh . . .  383 

Ruined  Town  of  Sebaita . .  * .  389 

Ruined  Houses  at  Sebaita .  396 

Hebron . . .  408 


12  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Lower  Pool  of  Hebron .  415 

Rachel’s  Tomb .  419 

Jerusalem,  from  the  East .  422 

Plan  of  Jerusalem . .  425 

Wall  at  South-east  Corner  of  Temple  Area .  427 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre .  431 

Ground-plan  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre .  433 

Quarries  under  Jerusalem .  437 

Jews’  Wailing-place .  439 

Pool  of  Siloam .  441 

Bethlehem .  444 

The  Dead  Sea,  from  the  North . 447 

Map  of  the  Dead  Sea .  450 

Entrance  to  Nablous .  462 

Samaria .  468 

Jenin .  474 

Map  of  the  Y alley  of  Esdraelon .  476 

Map  of  the  Talley  of  Nazareth .  481 

Plan  of  Nazareth .  483 

Nazareth .  487 

Kefr  Kenna,  seen  in  the  Distance .  490 

Tiberias  and  Lake,  looking  North-east .  495 

Mejdel  and  Plain  of  Gennesaret .  508 

Map  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee .  510 

Wady  Hamam .  514 

Tyre,  from  the  East .  521 

Sidon .  525 

Bey  root .  532 

Constantinople .  539 

The  Bosphorus .  544 

Map  op  the  Environs  op  Jerusalem . At  end  of  volume 

Map  of  Sinai,  the  Desert,  and  the  South  Country .  “  “ 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TO  ANTIQUITY. 

One  may  best  enter  antiquity  through  the  “  Eternal  City.” 
As  all  roads  lead  to  Rome,  so  the  road  from  Rome  leads 
through  all  history.  It  is  well  for  an  American  traveller 
— at  least  I  found  it  so — thus  to  bridge  over  the  chasm  be¬ 
tween  him  and  the  ages  past.  I  had  set  out  primarily  to  see 
the  historic  scenes  of  the  old  Covenant  People :  the  country 
of  their  bondage,  the  track  of  their  exodus,  the  mount  of 
their  law -giving,  the  desert  of  their  wanderings,  and  the 
land  of  their  hope  and  promise.  To  the  native  of  a  country 
whose  oldest  monuments  and  records  are  younger  than  three 
centuries,  those  events  seem  at  times  interminably  remote, 
and  inaccessible.  The  city  that  once  joined  all  nations  to¬ 
gether  still  mediates  between  the  ages.  She  takes  the  trav¬ 
eller  by  the  hand,  and  leads  him  steadily  upward  into  the 
past.  The  spell  of  the  Empire,  indeed,  is. upon  him  almost 
as  soon  as  he  sets  foot  upon  the  shores  of  Europe ;  and  by 
the  time  he  has  reached  the  u golden  mile- stone”  by  the 
Forum,  he  begins  to  have  a  sense  of  fresh  contact  with  the 
chief  events  of  the  past.  They  lie  around  within  easy  reach. 
Through  all  the  diverse  and  multitudinous  sights  of  Europe, 
there  is  found  one  central  historic  cord  running  up  to  antiq- 


I 


14 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


uity.  I  first  encountered  it  in  the  little  remnant  of  a  brick- 
and-cement  wall,  found  not  without  difficulty,  in  a  garden  at 
Carnarvon,  Wales.  At  Chester  the  whole  soil  was  full  of 
relics,  cropping  out  wherever  a  drain  is  dug;  and  the  old 
bath-room,  now  underground,  still  showed  its  bathing-tub  in 
situ.  At  York  were  to  be  seen  the  ruins  of  Roman  towers; 
at  Lincoln,  the  solid  gate-way  still  in  use  ;  in  London,  the 
central  mile-stone;  and  in  every  considerable  collection  of 
curiosities,  from  Edinburgh  to  the  south  of  England,  Roman 
altars,  relics,  and  inscriptions.  On  crossing  to  the  Conti¬ 
nent,  the  marks  of  this  ancient  and  ubiquitous  force  grew 
more  continuous.  They  lay  all  along  the  Rhine  Yalley:  at 
Cologne  ( colonia ),  thickly  sown  with  mosaics,  statues,  and 
sarcophagi ;  Bonn,  rich  in  its  cabinet  of  antiquities ;  Engers, 
where  the  masonry  of  Caesar’s  bridge  is  still  pointed  out; 
Coblentz,  the  conjluentia  of  the  Moselle;  Treves,  up  the  Mo¬ 
selle,  exhibiting  its  ancient  gate-way,  baths,  and  amphithe¬ 
atre  ;  and  at  Maintz,  with  its  aqueduct,  its  monument  of 
Drusus,  and  its  museum  overflowing  with  all  manner  of  Ro¬ 
man  relics.  Where  the  Rhine  comes  from  Switzerland,  the 
name  which  the  Romans  ^ave  still  remains  in  “  Basilea  ” 
(Basle).  On  the  shores  of  Lake  Geneva,  and  along  the  val¬ 
ley  of  the  Rhone,  as  at  Sion  (Sedunum)  and  at  Martigny,  I 
had  seen  the  permanent  marks  of  their  occupancy;  and  in 
one  almost  solitary  place  a  single  Roman  pier  stood  bolt- 
upright  by  the  river,  to  tell  of  an  energy  such  as  never  has 
been  there  since. 

Such  indications  as  these  keep  growing  upon  the  traveller 
till  the  strong  hand  that  once  lay  upon  the  nations  has  taken 
firm  hold  of  him.  The  impression  deepens  as  he  approach¬ 
es  the  seat  of  that  ancient  poAver.  The  first  contact  with 
the  macaroni-making,  chestnut-roasting,  begging  population 
of  the  modern  city  makes  him  ready  to  question,  indeed, 


TO  ANTIQUITY. 


15 


whether  there  is  not  some  mistake.  But  an  old  column  or  a 
majestic  ruin  brings  back  the  spell,  and,  after  a  little  roam¬ 
ing  about  this  wonderful  place,  he  begins  to  feel  that  he  is 
almost  in  the  presence  of  the  great  acts  and  actors  of  the 
ages  past.  There  can  hardly  be  found  in  the  world  another 
place  that  so  shortens  the  way  back  through  the  world’s 
history. 

Sometimes  you  ascend  by  a  series  of  colossal  steps.  You 
stand  on  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  before  a  tall  granite  obelisk 
covered  with  inscriptions.  Gay  equipages,  with  fleet  horses 
and  showy  liveries,  are  gliding  by  in  a  continuous  stream  of 
life.  But  as  you  lift  your  eyes  to  the  column,  you  read  first 
the  inscription  of  Sixtus  V.,  “  Pontifex  Maximus,”  bearing 
date  near  three  hundred  years  ago.  Next  you  read  the 
name  of  another  “  Pontifex  Maximus,”  Augustus  Caesar,  who 
records  that  this  was  his  own  undivided  gift  to  the  Roman 
people,  some  1500  years  earlier,  and  that  he  brought  it  from 
Egypt.  Higher  yet  you  read  the  names  of  Rameses  II.  and 
Seti  I,  and  you  have  mounted  some  fourteen  hundred  years 
beyond  Augustus  Caesar.  Or  you  bridge  the  way  to  Caesar’s 
time  by  shorter  arches,  when,  for  example,  you  enter  the  lit¬ 
tle  church  of  San  Clemente,  where  services  have  been  con¬ 
ducted  seven  or  eight  centuries  in  the  present  building,  but 
in  an  ill-fitted  choir  taken  from  an  older  church.  From  the 
sacristy  you  descend  a  long  double  flight  of  steps  into  an  ex¬ 
cavation  accidentally  originated  within  about  a  dozen  years, 
and  completed  within  five,  to  find  yourself  in  another  older 
church  directly  underneath,  containing  sixteen  columns  of 
granite  and  marble  and  various  fresco  paintings,  between 
which  five  more  centuries  seem  to  intervene ;  and  you  learn 
that  St.  Jerome,  in  the  year  592,  mentions  a  church  in  this 
place.  From  this  lower  church  you  still  descend,  passing  on 
the  stairway  two  or  three  strata  of  ancient  city  walls,  one  of 


I 


16 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


which  is  supposed  to  belong  at  least  to  the  republican  period 
of  Rome,  and  another  perhaps  to  the  time  of  Servius  Tul¬ 
lius.  Beneath  all  this,  down  where  the  water  stands  a  foot 
in  depth,  on  the  one  side  is  a  chamber  containing  an  altar 
to  the  oriental  god  Mithras,  and  on  the  other  a  well-built 
room,  with  a  vaulted  and  stuccoed  ceiling  and  the  base  of  a 
marble  column,  which  is  alleged  to  be  the  house  of  Clement, 
the  apostolic  father,  for  whom  the  church  is  named.  It  may 
or  may  not  have  been  his ;  but  in  descending  those  succes¬ 
sive  flights  of  steps,  you  have,  beyond  all  cavil,  walked  from  . 
the  nineteenth  and  the  twelfth  to  the  fourth  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  and  an  indefinite  period  beyond. 

Or  you  may  waive  all  intermediate  stages,  and  stand  in 
the  presence  of  the  Empire  and  the  Republic.  There  is  a 
singular  sense  of  personal  acquaintance  with  those  times  and 
men,  when,  as  you  ascend  the  Capitoline  Hill,  between  Cas¬ 
tor  and  Bollux,  the  first  mile-stone  of  the  Appian  Way  is 
on  your  right,  and  Marcus  Aurelius,  with  outstretched  hand, 
mounted  on  a  horse,  to  which  Michael  Angelo  once  said, 

“  Get  up,”  welcomes  you  to  the  spot  where  Brutus  addressed 
the  people  after  Caesar’s  death.  As  you  descend  on  the  oth¬ 
er  side,  the  events  which  Sallust  describes  grow  vivid  while 
you  stand  in  the  unquestionable  hole,  the  Mamertine  pris¬ 
on,  where  Jugurtlia  starved,  and  Catiline’s  accomplices  were 
strangled,  and  see  the  place  of  the  stairs  by  which  Cicero 
came  forth  to  say,  “  Vixerunt .”  The  sense  of  recentness 
increases  when  you  leave  the  prison  and  look  upon  the  site 
of  the  Senate  Chamber,  where  he  and  Caesar  debated  the 
doom  of  the  prisoners — for  the  old  cement  of  the  founda¬ 
tions  still  holds  together  like  a  rock ;  and  close  at  hand  the 
three  columns  of  Vespasian  and  the  eight  of  Saturn’s  temple 
stand  as  firm  on  the  solid  mass  of  substructure  as  though 
they  were  set  up  last  year.  From  the  site  of  the  Senate 


TO  ANTIQUITY. 


17 


House  diagonally  across  the  Forum  you  enter  the  spot  from 
which  Caesar  no  doubt  went  forth  to  his  death,  and,  hard  by, 
the  place  of  Cicero’s  modest  dwelling  on  the  edge  of  the 
Palatine  Hill.  You  push  through  the  monstrous  substruc¬ 
tions  of  the  same  hill,  and  climb  to  the  site  of  the  palace 
where  Caligula  raved,  or  descend  into  the  Atrium  and  Tri¬ 
clinium  of  Tiberius’s  father,  and  look  upon  the  frescos  which 
the  family  saw  at  their  meals.  You  pass  round,  seeing  in 
four  or  five  places  great  blocks  which  belonged  to  Roma 
Quadrata  of  the  earliest  times.  You  go  to  the  rear  of  the 
hill,  half- wav  down,  into  the  rooms  of  the  Psedagocnum,  and 
read  names  which  the  boys  scratched  on  the  plaster  of  the 
walls — Felicis,  Dolychorus,  and  others — and  half  sentences, 
in  bungling  letters,  such  as  u Corintlvas  exit  de poedagogio” 
You  descend  in  front  over  the  ancient  lava  pavement  of  the 
“Yia  Nova,”  by  the  foundations  and  remains  of  the  temple 
of  Jupiter  Stator,  commenced,  as  the  story  goes,  by  Romu¬ 
lus,  and  you  read  on  two  blocks  of  stone,  lying  ten  feet  be¬ 
low  the  surface,  the  names  of  Diocl[es]  and  Pelora[lis],  of 
Rome’s  third  century ;  while  on  your  right  and  left  are  the 
historic  sites  where  Ancus  Marcius  and  Servius  Tullius 
lived.  You  enter  into  the  private  life  and  sumptuous  habits 
of  Rome’s  imperial  rulers  when,  for  example,  underneath  the 
wide-spread  ruins  of  Titus’s  Baths  you  pass  through  room 
after  room  of  Nero’s  palace,  seeing  the  paintings  in  spots 
yet  upon  the  walls,  and  the  bath-tub  in  which  the  wretch 
washed  the  tenement  of  his  foul  soul ;  and  still  beneath  that 
palace  you  look  upon  the  mosaic  floor  of  the  villa  of  Maece¬ 
nas,  which  it  covered  up.  On  the  way  thus  from  the  Pal¬ 
atine  to  the  Esquiline  Hill  you  have  passed,  perhaps,  over 
the  old  pavement  of  the  “  Sacred  AVay,”  where  so  many  tri¬ 
umphs  went ;  beneath  that  Arch  of  Titus,  on  which  is  to  be 
seen  the  only  contemporary  representation  of  the  golden 


18 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


candlestick,1  the  Jubilee  trumpets,  and  the  showbread  ta¬ 
ble  ;  and  by  the  Coliseum,  where  Ignatius  and  so  many 
other  martyrs  shed  their  blood.  And  thus  the  vista  opens 
up  both  to  the  Temple  and  the  Cross.  You  are  forced  to 
remember,  as  you  study  the  beautiful  Column  of  Trajan, 
wreathed  with  fresh  sculpturings  of  forgotten  warfare,  that 
the  man  who  reared  it  personally  doomed  Ignatius  to  prison, 
torture,  and  the  beasts.  The  Arch  of  Septimius,  the  Tomb 
of  Hadrian,  and  the  Baths  of  Diocletian  awaken  the  same 
kind  of  associations. 

The  sense  of  personal  intercourse  with  these  great  factors 
of  history  is  completed  by  standing  in  the  presence  of  so 
many  marble  portraits.  In  a  room  of  the  Lateran  one  is  in¬ 
troduced  to  Augustus  and  all  his  family.  In  a  chamber  of 
the  Capitoline  Museum  all  the  emperors  and  some  of  their 
wives  look  in  his  face,  until  at  last  the  features  of  Julius  and 
Augustus  Caesar  are  almost  as  familiar  as  those  of  Welling- 
ton  and  Napoleon.  A  multitude  of  bass-reliefs  make  one 
live  over  the  scenes  of  classic  fable;  and  the  matchless  stat¬ 
ues  which  the  rulers  of  the  world  gathered  here,  not  alone 
by  the  hundred,  but  literally  by  the  thousand,  open  an  en¬ 
trance  to  the  best  ages  of  Grecian  art. 

These  things  not  only  enliven  the  impressions  of  the  past, 
they  at  the  same  time  strengthen  the  faith  historically,  and, 
I  might  well  add,  religiously  too.  Decent  excavations  have 
developed  facts  before  which  some  of  the  modern  historic 


1  The  substantial  accuracy  of  this  bass-relief  is  conceded,  although  some  sub¬ 
ordinate  details  are  deemed  improbable.  The  original  was  then,  and  long  re¬ 
mained,  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  conquerors.  De  Saulcy  in  1864  procured  at 
Tiberias  a  bass-relief  of  the  candlestick,  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Um 
Keis  (Gadara),  which  he  deposited  in  the  Louvre  (Yogage  en  Terre  Sainte,  ii. 
263) ;  and  another  was  found  by  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  on  the  lintel  of 
a  ruined  synagogue  at  Nebartein,  in  Galilee.  But  the  age  of  neither  is  known 
definitely. 


TO  ANTIQUITY. 


19 


doubts  must  stand  rebuked.  And  there  are  other  indica¬ 
tions  here  which  carry  us  down  to  the  old  palaeozoic  rocks 
of  Christianity,  and  prove  its  once  mighty  hold  upon  the 
Empire.  The  time  is  not  long  past  when  there  was  more 
of  ancient  history  below  than  above  ground  in  Rome. 

This  wonderful  city  opens  up  like  a  great  avenue  into  the 
Apostolic  Church.  Perhaps  there  is  no  place  in  the  world 
which,  by  its  unbroken  line  of  historic  connections,  its  mani¬ 
fold  chains  of  association,  and  its  direct  and  almost  per¬ 
sonal  contact  with  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses,  so  brings  one 
into  the  presence  of  the  earliest  Christianity.  One  wan¬ 
ders  among  memorials  here  that  are  authentic  and  indisput¬ 
able,  until  he  feels  that  he  could  quite  as  easily  and  ration¬ 
ally  doubt  the  chief  facts  of  the  Roman  Empire,  as  the 
grasp  with  which  the  Gospel  laid  hold  of  the  Empire  with¬ 
in  twenty-five  years  of  the  death  of  Christ. 

Indeed,  its  superior  vitality  and  viability  strikes  the  eye 
at  once.  The  Empire  had  the  start.  But  after  eighteen 
hundred  years  the  outward  memorials  of  the  one  are  a  few 
crumbling  ruins;  of  the  other,  three  hundred  churches  or 
more,  degenerate  indeed,  but  maintaining  the  activities  of 
life.  The  only  entire  edifice  of  Imperial  times,  the  Pan¬ 
theon,  w’as  preserved  by  its  Christian  consecration  twelve 
hundred  years  ago.  Three  columns,  inscribed  with  the 
mocking  word,  “  restituerunt”  are  all  that  remain  of  Vespa¬ 
sian’s  temple,  and  an  equal  number  stand  for  that  of  Au¬ 
gustus  (“Mars  Ultor ”),  while  antiquarians  dispute  whether 
it  was  his.  St.  Peter  flourishes  his  keys  on  the  top  of  Tra¬ 
jan’s  Column,  and  the  Column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  has  been 
“purged  of  all  impiety”  by  Sixtus  Fifth.  The  massive 
tombs  of  Hadrian  and  Augustus  have  long  been  cleared  of 
the  ashes  of  nigh  a  score  of  dead  emperors,  and  the  cover  of 
Hadrian’s  sarcophagus  was  spared  to  be  a  baptismal  font  in 


20 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


St.  Peter’s.  If  Aurelius  on  horseback  still  welcomes  us  to 
the  hill  of  the  Capitol,  it  is  because,  ages  ago,  he  was  mis¬ 
taken  for  the  Christian  Constantine.  The  priceless  treasures 
of  art  that  once  tilled  the  imperial  palaces  have  been  pre¬ 
served  to  us  chiefly  in  the  palaces  of  the  Pope. 

The  memorials  of  the  emperors  are  largely,  also,  remind¬ 
ers  of  the  contact  of  the  Empire  at  every  point  with  the 
facts  and  factors  of  early  Christianity.  The  Arch  of  Con¬ 
stantine  celebrates  the  battle  in  which,  “  instinctu  divini- 
tatis,”  he  won  the  victory,  thenceforth  avowing  himself  a 
Christian.2  The  Coliseum  is  not  more  closely  associated 
with  the  lives  of  three  emperors  than  with  the  deaths  of  an 
uncounted  host  of  Christian  martyrs.  Titus  engraved  on  his 
Arch  the  tokens  that  Christ’s  prediction  was  accomplished. 
The  mutilated  shafts  of  Trajan’s  forum  suggest  the  unmu¬ 
tilated  letters  of  Trajan  and  Pliny,  written  close  upon  the 
death  of  the  Apostle  John,  and  attesting  the  numbers,  the 
ways,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  Asiatic  Christians.  The 
“ Tower  of  Nero,”  which  marks  the  spot  from  which  the  ty¬ 
rant  beheld  the  burning  city,  also  reminds  us  of  the  ensuing 
havoc  inflicted  by  him  upon  the  Apostolic  Church,  and  of 
the  66  ingens  multitudo”of  Christians  then  in  Pome,  among 
whom,  no  doubt,  was  Paul.  And  then  it  comes  to  mind 
how  this  was  the  city  to  which  the  great  apostle  wrote  his 
greatest  epistle,  its  genuineness  undisputed  by  the  most  ar¬ 
rant  scepticism ;  this  the  place  from  which  he  sent  the 
Christian  salutations  of  them  “  which  are  of  Caesar’s  house¬ 
hold  ;  ’’  this  the  city  from  which  his  last  brave  words  were 
written. 

And  here  at  times  one  is  confident  that  he  is  on  the  very 


2  Attention  has  been  called  to  the  vagueness  of  the  phrase  used  in  this  inscrip¬ 
tion,  as  perhaps  a  compromise  in  the  Senate,  and  to  some  indications  that  the 
phrase  itself  is  not  the  original  form  of  the  inscription. 


TO  ANTIQUITY. 


21 


track  of  Paul:  certainly  along  the  Appian  Way,  and  under 
the  Arch  of  Drusus  ;  perhaps  in  the  imperial  Basilica  on 
the  Palatine,  where  he  “answered”  to  the  emperor;  most 
likely  on  the  Ostian  Way,  where  he  went  forth  to  his  death; 
and  possibly,  at  least,  in  the  now  subterranean  apartments 
of  San  Pudenziana  and  of  Santa  Maria  in  Via  Latina;  if 
not  in  San  Paolino,  and  still  less  in  the  Mamertine  Prison. 
The  lounging  soldier  helped  us  to  feel  the  freshness  of 
these  things  when  he  scratched  in  a  room  of  the  Palatine 
his  caricature  of  the  young  religion,  under  the  figure  of  a 
man  with  an  ass’s  head  upon  the  cross,  and  the  comment, 
“Anaxamenos  worships  God.” 

We  even  trace  the  memorial  connection,  in  a  peculiar 
continuous  series,  up  to  the  earliest  times.  The  church 
of  San  Clemente,  already  described,  takes  us  back  by  suc¬ 
cessive  stages  almost  to  the  apostolic  father  whose  name  it 
bears,  Clement  of  Rome.  The  church  of  St.  Agnes  and 
the  Lateran  take  us  to  the  time  of  Constantine,  while  oth¬ 
ers  already  mentioned  ( e .  <7.,  San  Pudenziana)  seem  to  con¬ 
nect  themselves  with  houses  of  a  much  earlier  date. 

But,  however  this  may  be,  we  stand  at  length  in  person 
by  the  side  and  in  the  midst  of  the  mighty  host  of  early 
witnesses,  and  read  the  personal  testimonies  with  which 
they  went  to  their  rest.  The  impression  of  the  Catacombs, 
their  almost  breathing  inscriptions,  and  their  vast  numbers 
of  human  remains,  multitudes  of  which  still  lie  just  as  they 
were  laid  by  pious  hands,  is  deep  and  irresistible.  Here  we 
literally  walk  among  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands,  and, 
De  Rossi  says  advisedly,  “  millions,”  of  ancient  believers,  as 
dating  certainly  as  far  back  as  a.d.  71,  and  thence  to  a.d. 
410.  These  Catacombs  lie  in  a  zone  some  two  miles  wide, 
outside  of  the  city,  and  their  latest  and  most  careful  inves¬ 
tigator  has  ventured  the  estimate  that  the  entire  extent  of 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


22 

their  passages  is  as  great  as  the  length  of  all  Italy.  I  visit¬ 
ed  four  of  them,  besides  that  belonging  to  the  Jews.  In  one 
of  them  I  wandered  round  some  two  miles  by  taper  light, 
seeing  but  an  eighth  part  even  of  this.  It  was  a  newly  ex¬ 
cavated  portion  of  the  Catacombs  of  St.  Agnes.  We  passed 
through  two  series  of  galleries,  one  beneath  the  other,  and 
looked  down  into  the  third.  On  each  side  were  tombs  cut 
into  the  rock  above  each  other  in  from  five  to  nine  succes¬ 
sive  tiers,  each  tier  followed  by  the  next  throughout  the  en¬ 
tire  distance,  with  scarcely  a  vacant  foot  between.  Many 
of  the  tablets  that  closed  the  niches  in  front  still  remained 
undisturbed,  showing  the  trustful  inscriptions  of  Christian 
“peace,”  rudely  cut,  or  sometimes  merely  scratched  in  mor¬ 
tar  with  the  point  of  a  trowel.  But  most  of  them  were 
opened,  and  the  remains,  often  entire  skeletons,  sometimes 
two  or  even  more  in  a  single  tomb,  were  lying  precisely  as 
they  lay  ages  ago.  In  three-quarters  of  an  hour  I  must 
have  passed  the  remains  of  ten  thousand  persons,  and  I  was 
freshly  reminded  of  the  statement  of  Tacitus — the  “great 
multitude  ” — and  the  rather  intense  boast  of  Tertullian,  that 
to  expel  the  Christians  would  be  to  depopulate  the  Empire. 

It  is  impossible  to  convey  to  another  the  impression  of 
the  nearness,  vividness,  and  absolute  certainty  of  the  great 
events  of  early  Christianity  made  upon  one  who  walks 
among  these  miles  of  Christian  dead,  and  these  thousands  of 
original  and  separate  records.  Many  of  the  inscriptions 
have  been  removed  to  the  more  convenient  galleries  of  the 
Vatican  and  Lateran.  They  are  in  general  rudely,  often 
hastily  and  clumsily,  cut  or  scratched,  frequently  in  unclas- 
sical  Latin  or  in  the  Greek  of  those  times ;  but  they  all  re¬ 
cord  that  the  occupants  are  “  in  peace,”  or  that  they  “  rest,” 
while  the  cross,  the  olive-branch,  the  dove,  the  victor’s  palm, 
symbolize  their  faith  and  hopes.  A  man  who  walks  round 


TO  ANTIQUITY. 


23 


among  this  host  of  early  witnesses  that  have  here  individual¬ 
ly  proclaimed  their  faith,  often  from  the  martyr’s  tomb  and 
with  the  martyr’s  memorial,  is  constrained  to  feel  that  the 
evidence  of  anything  else  in  all  the  past  life  of  Rome  is  al¬ 
most  insignificant  in  comparison.  And  they  not  only  tell 
the  fact,  but  the  nature  of  their  faith.  Nothing  so  shines 
out  as  the  brightness  of  that  hope.  I  visited  the  Hebrew 
catacombs,  marked  with  Jewish  symbols,  and  two  of  the  old 
Roman  columbaria,  containing  the  ashes  of  some  thousand 
persons,  and  I  spent  many  hours  in  examining  the  inscrip¬ 
tions  gathered  in  the  Vatican  and  Lateran  palaces  from 
Pagan  and  Christian  burial-places.  The  difference  is  mar¬ 
vellous.  The  Pagan  inscriptions  are  often  ostentatious  rec¬ 
ords  of  rank  and  title,  and  in  not  a  few  instances  they  are 
full  of  yearning  expressions  of  endearment  for  “  a  beloved 
son,”  “a  sweetest  daughter,”  or  even  “an  incomparable 
wife.”  But  I  searched  in  vain  through  hundreds  of  inscrip¬ 
tions  for  one  expression  of  any  hope  beyond.  One  young 

wife  “  lies  in  darkness ;”  a  despairing  mother  sees  in  the 

* 

death  of  her  two  children  “  her  own  funeral a  younsr 
daughter  comforts  her  parents  that  her  early  death  was 
“fated.”  But  commonly  all  comment  is  sadly  wanting.  In 
the  Jewish  catacombs  I  noticed  in  only  two  places  the  ex¬ 
pressions  “in  peace”  and  “sleeping.”  But  this  was  the  uni¬ 
versal  Christian  song :  they  were  in  peace,  resting,  sleeping, 
in  Christ,  in  God.  The  comfort  of  the  survivor  also  ex¬ 
presses  itself  not  seldom  in  touching  forms.  The  memorial 
is  made  to  the  “  dearest  and  most  blessed  wife ;”  or  to  “  the 
most  loving  and  noble  wife,  by  her  most  happy  husband.” 

I  could  not  fail  to  notice,  in  passing,  one  or  two  striking 
facts  here  indicated  concerning  this  early  Church.  One  was 
the  absolute  Christian  equality  here  exhibited.  There  are 
no  records  of  human  estimation,  although  sometimes  a  sim- 


24 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


pie  designation  of  a  church  officer.  But  even  then  the  men 
whom  the  Bornish  Church  calls  “  Popes”  are  simply  termed 
“  episcopus,”  pastor.  And  while  the  pagan  inscriptions 
abound  in  allusions  to  slaves  and  freedmen,  it  is  a  signifi¬ 
cant  fact  that  eleven  thousand  Christian  inscriptions  do  not 
contain  more  than  six  or  seven  such  allusions.  Noteworthy, 
also,  are  the  views  which  these  Christians  entertained  con¬ 
cerning  their  departed  infant  children.  I  copied  numerous 
inscriptions  upon  children  from  three  years  old  down  to  two 
years  and  one,  where  the  phrases  and  the  symbols  were  the 
same  as  in  the  case  of  adult  Christians ;  thus :  “  Alexander 
in  peace,  who  lived  one  year  and  twelve  days ;  ”  a  little  girl 
who  lived  one  year  and  fifteen  days  is  “  in  peace,”  and  be¬ 
neath  is  the  dove  with  an  olive-branch.  Just  so  in  numer¬ 
ous  other  instances.  But  a  specification  of  the  views  here 
indicated  would  lead  me  too  far  from  my  main  object.  I 
would  merely  indicate,  in  passing,  the  untold  wealth  of  faith 
and  love  that  is  embodied  in  these  rude  and  “  simple  annals 
of  the  poor,”  and  the  impression  here  made  of  the  tremen¬ 
dous  force  of  testimony  to  the  power  and  veritable  charac¬ 
ter  of  the  Christianity  which  sprang  up  in  the  imperial  city 
almost  immediately  after  the  death  of  our  Lord. 

Here,  also,  is  the  place  in  Europe  where  one  first  lays  hold 
of  the  chain  of  connection  with  ancient  Israel.  It  is  almost 
startling  to  think,  as  one  stands  beneath  the  Arch  of  Titus 
and  looks  upward,  that  he  is  gazing  upon  a  contemporary 
representation  of  the  furniture  of  the  Temple ;  and,  as  he 
turns  toward  that  vast  amphitheatre  which  stands  in  full 
sight,  that  its  walls  embody  the  labor  of  twelve  thousand 
captives,  some  of  whom  may  have  seen  our  Lord  walk  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem.  Half  a  mile  westward,  in  the  filthi¬ 
est  part  of  the  city,  the  Pescheria  (fish-market),  may  be  seen 
four  Corinthian  columns  and  three  pilasters  of  white  mar- 


TO  ANTIQUITY. 


25 


ble,  and  part  of  an  ancient  pediment,  nearly  hidden  by  sur¬ 
rounding  brick  walls.  They  are  part  of  the  Portico  or  Col¬ 
onnade  of  Octavius.  It  was  here  that  Titus  and  Vespasian 
celebrated  their  triumph  over  the  ancient  people,  and  Jose¬ 
phus  was  probably  a  spectator.  And  all  around — for  it  is 
in  the  Ghetto,  or  Jews’  quarter — are  lineal  descendants  of 
those  captives.  On  the  external  frieze  of  the  neighboring- 
synagogue  may  be  seen  representations  of  David’s  harp  and 
Miriam’s  timbrel,  and  on  the  frieze  within,  of  the  Temple 
and  its  vessels.  The  connecting  link  between  the  present 
and  the  long  past  is  to  be  found  outside  of  the  city,  on  the 
road  to  St..  Urbano,  in  the  Jewish  catacombs,  where,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  occasional  symbols— palm  branches,  and  in  one 
instance  a  candlestick,  with  Latin  inscriptions  written  in 
Greek  characters — the  Israelites  were  laid  to  rest,  as  early 
as  the  third  century  of  our  era.  He  who  would  mount 
still  higher,  and  see  objects  on  which  the  eyes  of  their  dis¬ 
tant  ancestors  might  have  rested  in  Egypt,  has  but  to  visit 
the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  or  that  of  San  Giovanni,  and  read 
on  those  obelisks  names  which  perhaps  antedate  the  Ex¬ 
odus. 


26 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TO  THE  EAST. 

One  rises  by  instalments  to  antiquity;  blit  be  plunges  at 
a  bound  into  the  East.  That  great  inland  sea,  so  fringed 
with  historic  sites  and  ruined  cities  of  magnificence  and  re- 

CD 

nown,  is  all  that  lies  between.  The  West  hugs  its  one  coast¬ 
line,  the  East  its  other.  It  is  but  four  days  by  steam  from 
Brindisi  to  Alexandria,  to  a  world  so  different  that  we  won¬ 
der  how  we  slid  into  it  so  easily.  As  the  vessel  approached 
the  harbor,  all  that  could  be  seen  was  a  long,  low  line  of 
houses,  intermingled  with  a  few  larger  buildings,  a  light- 
house,  and  the  masts  of  shipping.  They  mask  the  flat  coast 
of  Egypt  and  the  city  of  Alexandria.  Inside  the  harbor 
twenty  steamers  lay  around  us.  We  were  compelled  to  re¬ 
main  on  board,  in  quarantine,  for  forty-eight  hours,  because 
the  cholera  had  been  in  Naples  during  the  summer  and  au¬ 
tumn,  though  it  was  now  the  12th  of  December.  At  length 
the  quarantine  doctor  inspected  us — that  is,  he  counted  us  as  * 
we  walked  by  him  in  order — and  we  went  ashore.  The  pass¬ 
port  was  inspected  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  the  journey 
of  a  year,  the  trunk  opened  sufficiently  to  show  that  it  was 
not  an  infernal  machine.  And  though  a  carriage  took  us  to 

o  o 

an  English-speaking  hotel  in  the  large  English  quarter,  the 
sights  on  the  way  were  novel  indeed :  men  of  every  color, 
from  sooty  black  to  dingy  white,  wearing  turbans  and  tar- 
boushes,  and  baggy  trousers  dangling  about  their  heels,  and 
exhibiting  in  their  clothing  every  shade  and  combination  of 


TO  THE  EAST. 


27 


colors — except,  perhaps,  pure  white ;  veiled  women,  some¬ 
times  skinny,  lank,  and  sallow,  occasionally  with  brilliant 
complexions  and  lustrous  eyes,  that  showed  through  the  thin 
veils;  girls  with  heavy  burdens  nicely  balanced  on  their 
heads;  children  riding  astraddle  upon  the  mother’s  shoul¬ 
der,  and  occasionally  a  woman  seated  astride  upon  a  don¬ 
key  ;  camels  stalking  along,  swinging  their  riders  at  every 
step,  or  kneeling  and  growling  to  receive  their  loads ;  while 
palm-trees  and  rows  of  great  cactus  plants,  and  in  the  gar¬ 
dens,  bananas  and  oranges,  told  of  a  temperature  for  which 
the  hot  sun  himself,  even  in  a  December  day,  stood  voucher. 


ALEXANDRIA. 

* 

Few  places  are  more  difficult  for  the  imagination  to  con¬ 
nect  with  the  facts  of  their  history  than  this  city.  Pompey’s 
Pillar  and  Cleopatra’s  Needle  stand  in  historic  isolation,  and, 
misnomers  as  they  are,  suggest  what  seems  a  myth.  One 
can  see  how  the  quick  eye  of  Alexander  could  seize  the  spot 
for  the  harbor  of  Egypt,  the  outlet  of  the  East,  the  centre  of 
the  world’s  commerce.  But  to  identify  this  in  thought  as 
the  place  where  successive  Ptolemies  once  concentrated  the 
culture  of  the  world,  where  for  centuries  the  now  fragmen¬ 
tary  literature  of  early  times  was  gathered  in  its  fulness, 


28 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


and,  possibly,  the  lost  clews  of  ancient  history  were  joined 
together,  where  the  oldest  and  most  invaluable  version  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  was  given  to  posterity,  where  Euclid 
taught  geometry,  Galen  studied  medicine,  and  Philo,  Am- 
monius,  and  Plotinus  led  off  the  New  Platonic  philosophy, 
is  no  easy  effort.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  that  here 
Caesar  was  once  in  straits,  that  Cleopatra  may  have  been 
conveyed  to  his  residence  rolled  up  in  a  carpet,  and  that 
here  Antony  and  Cleopatra  held  long  and  high  revelry. 
But  to  think  of  it  as  a  great  centre  of  early  Christian  activ¬ 
ity,  where,  according  to  the  tradition  of  Eusebius,1  Mark  the 
Evangelist  preached  and  founded  churches,  whence  proba¬ 
bly  originated  choice  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament, 
where  Origen  performed  his  adamantine  toils,  whence  Arius 
and  Athanasius  made  the  world  ring  with  the  great  question 
of  the  Trinity,  is  a  long  stretch  of  the  imagination,  so  thor¬ 
oughly  does  the  region  now  lie  under  the  palsy  of  Moham¬ 
medanism.  The  city,  formerly  of  half  a  million  inhabitants, 
a  century  ago  had  sunk  to  six  thousand.  European  com¬ 
merce  has  raised  it  again  to  nearly  half  its  former  size. 

A  forenoon’s  drive  exhausted  the  chief  objects  of  interest 
in  Alexandria.  A  vigorous  struggle  of  more  than  twenty 
minutes  at  the  railway  station  enabled  us  to  get  two  trunks 
aboard  for  Cairo,  but  the  train  waited  for  the  last  man.  As 
the  journey  took  us  along  Mehemet  Ali’s  canal,  could  the 
twenty  thousand  men  who  in  two  years  perished  at  the  work 
have  appeared  to  us,  they  would  have  formed  a  larger  popu¬ 
lation  than  we  saw  at  any  point  along  the  line  between  Al¬ 
exandria  and  Cairo.  Through  the  whole  distance  the  land 
is  perfectly  flat,  scarcely  relieved  by  occasional  mud-built 
Arab  villages,  or  by  the  dismal  mounds  that  mark  the  site 


1  Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  History,  ii.  16. 


TO  THE  EAST. 


29 


of  ancient  towns.  One  is  reminded  of  the  vanity  of  human 
expectation  as  he  crosses  the  Rosetta  branch  of  the  Nile, 
where  in  1856  the  heir  to  the  throne  of  Egypt  was  drowned 
by  a  careless  engineer ;  and  of  the  evanescence  of  human 
glory* as  he  sees,  a  little  farther  along,  the  mounds  of  Sais, 
once  a  royal  capital  and  burial-place,  famous  for  its  national 
fete  and  its  temple  with  the  celebrated  inscription,  “  I  am 
all  that  has  been,  is,  or  shall  be,  and  no  mortal  has  lifted 
my  veil.” 

The  soil  seemed  quite  ordinary,  but  continued  to  improve 
till,  when  wre  crossed  the  Rosetta  branch  and  were  within 
the  Delta  proper,  it  was  exceedingly  rich — much  like  that 
of  a  Western  prairie;  and,  though  not  averaging  as  black, 
yet  having  the  advantage  of  being  intersected  by  channels 
of  Nile  water,  which  was  diffused  by  personal  labor  all  over 
it  in  little  streams.  Hundreds  of  men  were  engaged  in 
raising  the  water  from  these  channels  into  the  rivulets. 
For  the  greater  heights  this  was  done  with  a  “shadouf,”  a 
bucket  attached  to  a  well-sweep.  For  smaller  distances 
two  men  swung  between  them,  on  a  rope,  a  large  tight  bas¬ 
ket,  which  with  one  motion  they  would  fill,  and  with  anoth¬ 
er  raise  and  empty  into  the  higher  channel.  Sometimes 
a  man  stood  in  the  water  np  to  his  knees,  and  lifted  the 
basket  by  a  simple  lever  movement.  The  higher  channels 
were  intersected  at  right  angles  by  numerous  smaller  ones, 
which  were  opened  or  closed  at  pleasure,  so  as  to  carry  the 
water  to  every  part  of  the  surface.  At  present  the  men 
were  turning  the  water  mostly  among  the  young  grain- 
crops,  which  were  now  (Dec.  15)  a  few  inches  high,  or 
among  the  young  cotton-plants.  We  passed  through  miles 
of  cotton  plantations.  In  many  fields  the  cotton  had  been 
recently  gathered,  and  the  men  were  clearing  the  ground ; 
in  other  places  the  young  plants  were  but  a  few  inches  high. 


30 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Immense  quantities  of  cotton  were  to  be  seen,  on  the  trains, 
at  the  stations,  and  on  the  backs  of  camels  that  were  bring¬ 
ing  it  in  bags  to  the  stations.  Occasional  heaps  of  shelled 
maize,  and  large  quantities  of  the  stalks  scattered  here  and 
there,  gave  evidence  that  this  also  was  an  important  crop. 

At  rare  intervals  the  railway  passed  through  a  village. 
The  houses  were  all  huddled  together.  They  were  low 
huts,  built  of  sun-dried  mud,  that  seemed  not  always  to 
have  been  shaped  into  bricks.  The  roofs  were  sometimes 
round,  sometimes  flat,  covered  with  straw  or  corn-stalks,  or 
palm  branches  —  sometimes  with  mud.  The  whole  scene 
was  novel.  The  long  level  stretch  of  land,  the  canals,  riv¬ 
ulets  and  buckets,  turbaned  men  in  odd  costumes  riding 
donkeys,  workmen  in  equally  strange  and  Oriental  clothing, 
goats,  large-tailed  sheep,  buffaloes  with  horns  recurved  to 
their  necks,  antique  ploughs  and  mismated  animals,  the 
naked  trees  with  tufted  tops,  all  raised  the  inquiry  how  we 
came  there.  The  answer  and  connecting  link  was  the  rail¬ 
way  train,  managed,  however,  by  dusky  hands,  and  convey¬ 
ing  a  handful  of  Europeans  with  many  car-loads  of  Ori¬ 
entals. 

Unmistakable  objects  at  length  told  us  precisely  where 
we  were.  First  were  seen,  standing  out  sharp  on  the  hori¬ 
zon,  the  Pyramids,  some  twenty-five  miles  to  the  south-west. 
Next  the  minarets  of  Cairo  hove  in  sight.  The  ancient  On 
was  soon  passed  on  the  left ;  the  low  hills  that  bound  the 
Nile  valley  became  more  distinctly  visible  ;  and  in  a  few 
minutes  more  we  were  in  Cairo.  A  telegram  in  advance 
had  brought  a  carriage  (!)  to  the  station  to  meet  us.  As 
we  passed  out,  a  swarm  of  Orientals  followed,  pushing  each 
other,  and  ready  to  seize  our  packages  almost  by  force. 
Meanwhile,  three  officials  appeared  with  rattans — one  of 
them  soon  exchanging  his  rattan  for  a  whip — with  which 


I 


TO  THE  EAST.  33 

they  cut  right  and  left,  upon  donkeys  and  drivers  alike,  un¬ 
til  they  had  cleared  a  path,  through  which  we  went  trium¬ 
phantly  to  our  hotel. 

Cairo  takes  the  traveller  still  farther  into  Eastern  life. 
The  Khedive  has  done  much  to  change  the  outer  aspect  and 
first  impression  of  the  place.  Hotels  and  other  structures 
in  European  style,  blocks  of  shops  and  similar  buildings, 
the  public  gardens,  several  broad  streets,  pavements  and 
gas,  the  great  bridge  over  the  Kile,  a  French  theatre  and 
an  opera-house,  carriages  driving  hither  and  thither,  have 
invaded  even  this  most  Oriental  of  cities ;  and  these  things 
are  now  among  the  first  to  strike  the  eye  of  the  traveller. 
But  the  other  aspect  of  the  place  soon  makes  itself  felt. 
Veiled  women  sit  in  the  carriages,  and  a  runner  shouts 
along  before  to  clear  the  way.  Turbans  and  tarboushes, 
covering  dark  faces,  are  everywhere  around.  Camels  stalk 
along,  great  homely  creatures,  but  stately,  strong,  and  sol¬ 
emn,  with  ponderous  step  and  heterogeneous  burdens.  Har¬ 
dy  and  long-suffering  little  donkeys  move  patiently  with  a 
knitting-work  pace  or  a  brisk  canter.  One  of  the  first  ob¬ 
jects  I  saw  was  a  man  leading  a  donkey,  on  which  was  seat¬ 
ed  a  woman  holding  a  child  in  her  arms,  a  living  tableau  of 
the  flight  into  Egypt ;  just  as  afterward,  up  the  Nile,  I  saw 
more  than  one  withered  face  that  reproduced  an  ancient 
mummy.  A  short  walk  at  any  moment  will  take  one  be¬ 
yond  all  reminiscences  of  the  West.  In  returning  from 
the  citadel  one  day,  I  struck  off  at  random,  and  for  nearly 
an  hour  and  a  half  lived  over  the  scenery  of  the  Arabian 

« j 

Nights.  It  was  first  a  stroll  through  narrow  streets,  en¬ 
closed  by  windowless  walls  below,  and  overhung  by  project¬ 
ing  upper  stories  and  latticed  balconies,  and  no  visible  sign 
of  life.  Then  came  the  bazaars,  where  the  long  line  of  lit¬ 
tle  shops,  many  of  them  not  more  than  six  feet  square,  were 

3 


34 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


piled  up  with  goods  Jill  around,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
open  front  sat  the  shopman  waiting  for  his  customer  with 
all  the  patience  of  a  spider  watching  for  a  fly.  The  mer¬ 
chandise  told  its  own  tale.  Shoe -shops  were  resplendent 
with  red  slippers.  Dates,  mandarins,  and  other  Egyptian 


STREET  IN  THE  BAZAAR  AT  CAIRO. 


products  graced  the  groceries.  Hat-stores  were  filled  with 
red  tarboushes.  In  one  place  were  to  be  found  Damas¬ 
cus  scarfs,  in  another  gayly  embroidered  ladies’  vests,  and 
in  another  ottoman  covers  and  party-colored  table-cloths, 
wrought  with  odd  figures  and  sentences  from  the  Koran. 


TO  THE  EAST 


35 


Money-changers  londly  clinked  their  paras  from  hand  to 
hand. 

The  interiors  of  the  mosques  had  the  same  effect.  They 
were  marked  by  the  peculiar  taste  and  style  of  Mohamme¬ 
danism.  They  have  been  sufficiently  admired.  They  are 
striking  from  their  strangeness;  and  with  many  features  that 
are  picturesque  they  have  some  that  incline  to  the  grotesque. 
They  are  often  costly  with  marble,  but  somewhat  tawdry 
with  gilding  overhead,  and  cheap  with  stucco  ornamenta¬ 
tion,  and  dreary  with  whitewashed  walls  and  matted  floors. 
An  extreme  illustration  is  seen  in  the  great  mosque  of  Mo¬ 
hammed  Ali  upon  the  citadel.  Its  vast  size  is  impressive. 
An  alabaster  base  runs  round  the  whole  interior,  and  a  re¬ 
cess,  occupying  about  half  of  one  side,  is  also  lined  with 
alabaster.  But  the  columns  above  their  bases,  if  I  rightly 
remember,  are  covered  with  plaster ;  a  European  chande¬ 
lier  or  lustre  in  the  centre  is  surrounded  by  two  circles  of 
lamps ;  and  other  common-looking  lanterns  or  lamps,  to  the 
number  of  several  hundred,  dangling  by  long  chains,  give 
an  aspect  of  cheapness  and  of  childish  taste  to  the  whole  in¬ 
terior.  In  an  enclosed  tomb  in  one  corner  lie  the  remains 
of  its  famous  founder. 

Not  far  away  is  the  palace  of  Mohammed  Ali.  It  is  fur¬ 
nished  largely  in  European  style,  with  some  pretensions  to 
richness.  One  room,  for  example,  is  lined  with  green  satin, 
and  the  bath-room  is  wholly  of  alabaster.  Not  far  away  is 
the  court  where  he  slaughtered  the  Mamelukes,  and  the 
steep  place  down  which  one  solitary  survivor  plunged  his 
horse  and  escaped.  This  is  an  association  sufficiently  Ori¬ 
ental.  All  this,  however,  is  comparatively  modern.  Even 
the  old  mosque  of  Tooloon,  with  its  pointed  arches  antedat¬ 
ing  the  similar  arches  of  Europe  three  hundred  years,  goes 
back  only  to  the  ninth  century.  Another  step  backward 


36 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 


is  found  in  the  Coptic  churches  of  Old  Cairo  or  Babylon. 
When  one  enters  the  church  of  Aboo  Sirgeh  and  looks 
upon  its  carved  screen  elaborately  inlaid  with  ivory,  its 
mosaics  of  colored  marble  and  mother-of-pearl  all  dingy 
with  age ;  and  when  he  descends  into  the  subterranean 
chapel,  with  plastered  walls  and  small  baptismal  font  (two 
feet  in  diameter,  and  two  and  a  half  in  depth),  he  is  con¬ 
strained  to  feel  that  he  may  be  in  a  place,  not  indeed,  as 
the  tradition  says,  the  resting-place  of  Mary  and  the  infant 
Jesus,  yet  very  likely  as  old  as  the  Memphitic  version  of 
the  Scriptures,  which  is  attributed  to  the  third  century. 

This  and  other  churches,  and  the  whole  Coptic  village  to 
which  they  belong,  are  contained  within  an  enclosure  that 
rises  to  a  still  higher  antiquity.  It  is  the  old  Roman  for¬ 
tress  of  Babylon.  The  walls,  interspersed  with  just  such 
strata  of  red  tiles  as  I  had  seen  in  Roman  ruins  of  Lin¬ 
coln,  England,  still  stand  in  good  condition,  with  round- 
towers  and  a  main  entrance,  now  closed.  The  Roman 
eagle  ought,  according  to  the  guide-book,  to  have  been  seen 
under  the  corner  of  the  pediment,  but  wTe  could  not  distinct¬ 
ly  make  it  out. 

Yet  the  Roman  eagle  was  but  a  youthful  bird  by  the  side 
of  what  one  sees  at  Geezeh,  at  Oo,  and  in  the  Museum  of 
Boulak.  The  ancient  On,  or  Heliopolis,  lies  seven  or  eight 
miles  north  of  Cairo  by  a  pleasant  drive.  It  is  a  singular 
sensation  to  stand  and  look  upon  that  solitary  obelisk,  and 
to  think  that  the  student  Plato  saw  it  as  an  ancient  monu¬ 
ment  in  his  time,  and  that  fifteen  hundred  years  before  his 
time  the  patriarch  Joseph  read  upon  it  the  same  hieroglyph¬ 
ic  name,  “  Osirtasen,”  that  one  reads  to-day.  The  lettering 
is  still  almost  as  sharp  and  distinct  as  on  the  British  monu¬ 
ments  of  Kelson  or  Wellington.  The  neighboring  mounds, 
as  in  all  such  ancient  sites,  are  full  of  bits  of  pottery. 


TO  THE  EAST. 


37 


At  Heliopolis  we  still  hold  in  our  hands  the  clue  of  Scrip¬ 
ture  allusions.  But  a  drive  to  the  pyramids  at  Geezeh  car¬ 
ries  ns  fairly  beyond  the  circle  of  history.  They  stand 
there  like  the  creatures  of  some  Oriental  tale,  the  work  of 
the  Af rites  and  the  Djin.  Of  these  hillocks  of  masonry  not 
a  chipping  seems  to  have  been  left  on  the  plain  to  tell  that 
human  hands  wrought  it  to  shape.  Of  the  hugest  of  all 
the  structures  on  earth  not  a  record  has  come  from  within 
two  thousand  years  of  its  origin.  The  glory  of  its  builder  is 
represented  by  a  nameless  sarcophagus.  And  yet,  while  the 
oldest  of  human  monuments,  these  structures  bid  fair  to  be 
the  latest. 

When  one  enters  the  Museum  at  the  Boulak  (in  Cairo) 
he  finds  one  link  at  least  that  connects  him  with  the  epoch 
of  these  buildings.  In  the  central  hall  he  pauses  before  a 
green-stone  statue,  elaborately  wrought,  for  which  Mariette 
Bey  claims  the  age  of  sixty  centuries.2  A  seated  figure  of 
mild  and  dignified  aspect  holds  in  his  right  hand  a  roll  of 
papyrus.  The  arms  of  his  chair  terminate  in  lions’  heads, 
and  on  the  sides  are  carved  the  lotus  and  papyrus,  symbols 
of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  and  the  base  bears  the  liiero-. 
glyphic  name  of  “  Shafra,”  or  Cephrenes.  It  is,  no  doubt, 
the  builder  of  the  second  pyramid  before  whom  the  travel¬ 
ler  stands;  and  he  remembers  to  have  seen  in  the  British 
Museum  in  London  the  cover  of  a  mummy-case  found  in 
the  third  of  the  pyramids,  and  bearing  the  name  of  Men- 
kera  (Mycerinus),  its  builder.  There  lies,  too,  a  mummy 
found  near  by,  but  of  which,  alas!  no  man  can  tell  whether 
it  be  the  royal  corpse,  or  only  base  and  common  clay. 

The  admirably  life-like  (standing)  statue,  in  wood,  con¬ 
tained  in  the  same  museum,  and  referred  by  Mariette  Bey 


2  Mariette  Bey,  Principaux  Monuments,  p.  210. 


38 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


to  a  time  thirty-eight  hundred  years  earlier  than  Praxiteles,3 
as  well  as  the  Doric  columns  at  Beni-Hassan,  so  vastly  ante¬ 
dating  the  Thesenm,  suggest  where  the  Greeks  themselves, 
ages  afterward,  may  have  taken  their  first  lessons  in  archi¬ 
tecture,  and  even  in  sculpture. 

But,  however  remote  and  obsolete  these  things  appear,  the 
chasm  is  crossed  by  the  tokens  that  show  themselves  here 
and  there  in  the  perfume-boxes,  rings,  dolls,  games,  and  jew¬ 
elry,  which  indicate,  through  all  the  ages,  the  same  habits 
and  tendencies  in  the  human  breast. 


3  “Portrait  d’un  personnage  mort  il  y  a  six  mille  ans.”  Ib.  p.  189. 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


39 


CHAPTER  III. 

EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 

Egypt  is  the  most  singular  of  countries.  Herodotus 
rightly  called  it  “  the  gift  ”  of  the  Rile.  The  destiny  of 
the  land  and  the  nation  was  bound  up  in  its  one  river. 
And  the  river  is  as  unique  as  the  land.  After  an  immense 
course  above  the  Atbara  confluent,  it  flows  on  for  thirteen 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  without  one  branch — a  phenome¬ 
non  unmatched.  About  midway  of  this  branchless  course 
it  enters  Egypt  at  the  romantic  island  of  Philse,  just  north 
of  the  torrid  zone.  For  a  fewT  miles  it  struggles  down  a 
series  of  winding  rocky  rapids,  called  the  First  Cataract, 
eighty  feet  in  five  miles,  and  reaches  Assouan,  the  old  Sy- 
ene,  whence  comes  “  Syenite”  —  the  name  and  the  thing. 
With  an  average  current  of  between  two  and  three  miles 
an  hour,  and  an  average  width  of  about  half  a  mile,  it  runs 
smoothly  six  hundred  miles,  including  its  windings,  to  Cairo. 
A  little  north  of  Cairo  it  divides  and  enters  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  through  two  channels,  formerly  five  or  seven.1 

From  Philse  to  Cairo  its  course — the  whole  of  which  I  saw 
by  daylight — is  through  a  narrow  belt  of  fertile  land,  the 
Aile  valley,  almost  never  more  than  ten  miles  wide,  some¬ 
times  a  mere  strip,  and  averaging  only  from  six  to  seven 
miles.  Two  barricades  of  mountains  or  high  hills  hem  in 
this  little  belt,  and  save  it  from  the  ravages  of  the  desert 


1  Five  natural,  and  two  artificial.  Herodotus,  ii.  17. 


40 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


sands.  The  stream  now  creeps  under  the  shadow  of  the 
one  and  now  of  the  other,  oftener  the  eastern.  These  hills 
stretch  along  in  horizontal  layers,  here  and  there  scooped 
down  and  broken.  Not  a  tree  or  blade  of  grass  diversifies 
their  sides  or  summits,  and  all  beyond  them  is  just  as  bleak 
and  dead.  The  view  from  almost  any  point  on  the  surface 
of  the  river  is  singularly  uniform.  You  look  forward  or 
backward  along  a  smooth  stream  with  two  selvages  of  green 
plain,  enclosed  by  two  high  yellowish-brown  rock-barriers. 
Against  this  background  an  occasional  palm-grove  lifts  its 
high  feathery  branches,  mingled  with  acacias  and  smaller 
trees.  An  Arab  village  huddles  among  them.  Green  crops 
cover  the  intermediate  plain,  intersected  by  innumerable 
little  channels,  like  a  chess-board.  Straggling  mud-built 
houses  on  the  swelling  grounds  can  scarcely  be  distinguish¬ 
ed  from  the  soil  on  which  they  stand.  An  ox  and  a  camel, 
an  ox  and  a  donkey,  or  once  in  a  while  even  a  wee  donkey 
and  a  huge  camel,  may  be  seen  yoked  together.  A  yoke  of 
oxen  is  almost  the  exception.  A  group  of  loaded  camels 
heaves  in  sight,  moving  solemnly  along,  or  a  big-turbaned 
man  seated  far  back  on  the  smallest  of  donkeys,  with  his 
flowing  robes  nearly  hiding  the  animal,  like  a  dwarf  cen¬ 
taur.  On  the  edge  of  the  river  a  cluster  of  women  may 
perhaps  be  seen,  washing  clothes  and  filling  their  water-jars 
at  the  same  spot.  At  various  points,  nearly  or  quite  naked 
men  are  filling  the  trenches  from  the  river  with  baskets  or 
with  shadoofs.  A  flock  of  ducks  floats  on  the  water  just 
beyond  gunshot  range.  In  the  shallows  here  and  there 
stand  a  group  of  cranes,  turning  their  heads  sidewise  with 
an  air  of  penetration,  and  back  of  them  a  row  of  pelicans 
of  infinite  gravity.  Formerly  bands  of  crocodiles  were  to 
be  met  with  on  the  mud-banks.  Steam-boats  and  gunpow¬ 
der  have  disgusted  them,  and  driven  them  above  Phike.  I 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


41 


saw  but  two.  One  lay  like  a  log  near  the  water’s  edge, 
beneath  an  inaccessible  cliff;  and  when  a  bullet  struck  the 
surface  just  below  him,  he  rolled  clumsily  off,  and  disap¬ 
peared. 

Such  is  the  scene  which,  with  little  variation,  meets  the 
eye  day  after  day  up  the  Nile.  It  is  a  little  glaring,  when 
the  sun  is  high,  in  these  absolutely  cloudless  heavens.  But 
when  he  goes  down,  and  the  western  horizon  glows  with  his 
mellow  light,  the  whole  scene  seems  like  a  dream-land,  a 
view  in  some  other  planet. 

This  is  the  Nile  valley  from  Pliilse  to  Cairo.  But  at 
Cairo  the  mountains  recede  and  swing  off  almost  at  right 
angles,  leaving  what  is  called  the  Delta  of  Egypt.  Twelve 
miles  north  of  Cairo  is  the  division  of  the  Nile  into  its 
Damietta  and  Rosetta  mouths.  These  empty  eighty  miles 
apart,  and  the  whole  plain  spreads  to  the  breadth  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  along  the  Mediterranean.  A  nar¬ 
row  quasi- valley  is  the  wady  Tumilat,  stretching  eastward, 
a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  from  Zagazig  to  near 
Ismailia.  Add  to  this  the  fertile  region  called  the  Fayoom, 
south-west  of  Cairo  (a  tract  about  twenty-three  miles  by 
twenty-eight),  and  you  have  the  whole  of  Egypt.  It  was  a 
small  country.  The  famous  old  lands,  Greece,  Palestine, 
Babylonia,  were  not  large.  The  whole  of  Egypt  thus  de¬ 
scribed  contained  but  from  11,000  to  17,000  square  miles. 
Massachusetts  contains  8700,  Illinois  55,000. 

This  long  narrow  strip,  terminating  in  a  triangle,  and  ex¬ 
tending  five  hundred  and  thirty  miles  direct  from  north  to 
south — this  is  Egypt,  this  is  “  the  gift  ”  of  the  Nile.  It  is  as 
fertile  as  all  outside  of  it  is  waste  and  hopeless.  Rains  and 
showers  have  very  little  to  do  with  it,  practically  nothing. 

It  is  not  strictly  true  that  there  is  no  rain  in  Egypt,  al¬ 
though  well-informed  people,  even  travellers  like  Mr.  Sew- 


42 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ard,  often  make  that  mistake.  From  Cairo  to  the  sea,  and 
especially  near  the  latter,  showers  come  quite  frequently. 
Three  days  in  one  week,  while  I  was  at  Cairo,  it  rained 
more  or  less  (Dec.  16,  17,  and  19, 1873),  and  in  one  instance 
hailed,  to  say  nothing  of  a  heavy  rain  one  night  at  Suez. 
On  the  23d  of  January  following  there  were  two  showers  at 
Cairo,  and  on  the  24th  two  more,  closing  with  a  rainbow  that 
spanned  the  whole  sky,  and  the  fragment  of  a  second  bow.2 
Bayard  Taylor  thinks  that  a  recent  change  has  taken  place, 
growing  out  of  the  planting  of  trees,  since  he  was  first  there, 
and  increasing  the  rainy  days  from  five  to  forty  a  year. 
But  in  1852,  Lepsius  was  actually  deluged  out  of  his  tents 
by  the  rain  at  the  pyramids  ;  while  Wilkinson  wrote,  twenty- 
five  years  ago.  that  both  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times 
“heavy  storms  occasionally  fall  at  Thebes,  at  intervals  of 
fifteen  or  twenty  years ;  that  at  Thebes  slight  showers  now 
fall  five  or  six  times  a  year;  in  Lower  Egypt  much  more 
frequently,  and  in  Alexandria  almost  as  often  as  in  the 
south  of  Europe.”  In  ascending  the  Nile  south  from  Cairo, 
rain  becomes  more  rare,  until  you  reach  a  region  where,  it 
is  said,  many  persons  grow  up  without  ever  having  seen  it. 
Still  at  As}7oot,  the  missionary,  Dr.  Johnson,  told  me  how 
the  rain  on  one  occasion  came  pouring  down  through  his 
sitting-room,  and  the  more  easily,  that  so  little  preparation 
is  made  for  it.  But  it  is,  after  all,  the  Nile  that  waters  and 
fertilizes  Egypt. 

With  a  wonderful  regularity  the  river  begins  to  swell 
about  the  end  of  June,  rises  twenty-four  feet  at  Cairo  be¬ 
tween  the  20th  and  30th  of  September,  and  falls  as  much 
by  the  middle  of  May.  Six  feet  higher  than  this  is  devas¬ 
tation,  six  feet  lower  is  destitution.  It  spreads  a  thin  coat- 


2  It  rains  from  ten  to  fifteen  days  a  year. 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


43 


ing  of  mud  or  slime  wherever  it  goes,  not  more  than  a  twen¬ 
tieth  of  an  inch  thick.  But  wherever  the  Nile  water  reaches 
there  is  fertility.  No  other  fertilizer  seems  to  be  known. 
At  its  height,  the  natives  stay  in  their  houses  on  the  higher 
lands,  travel  on  the  dikes,  or  swim  across  from  point  to 
point.  When  it  subsides,  the  farmer  makes  haste  to  scatter 
his  seed  on  the  oozy  half-liquid  mud— “  sows  his  bread  upon 
the  waters;”  for  thus  it  requires  neither  plough  nor  harrow. 
Pigs  and  goats  tread  it  in.  The  Nile  valley  has  thus  been 
covered  deep  with  Nile  mud.  The  French  Expedition 
found  this  loam  to  be  five  feet  deep  at  the  First  Cataract, 
and  forty  feet  at  the  Delta ;  beneath  it  some  thirty-six  feet 
of  sand,  then  rock.3  The  river-bed  and  the  river  steadily 
rise  from  age  to  age,  till  now,  at  its  height,  the  water  perco¬ 
lates  under  Ivarnak  itself,  and  the  bases  of  the  great  Colossi 
at  Thebes  then  stand  in  a  vast  lake. 

Such  a  land  invites  to  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  not  to 
pasturage.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  a  square  foot 
of  genuine  grass-sod  in  all  Egypt,  unless  possibly  in  some 
private  garden  and  the  public  garden  at  Cairo;  and  it  was 
a  real  pleasure  to  get  where  the  firm  turf  grew  again.  But 
this  soil  yields  abundantly  to  the  rudest  culture — a  culture 
scarcely  improved  in  its  implements  or  methods  for  three 
thousand  years.  The  surface  is  simply  scratched  with  a 
one-handled  plough,  drawn  by  two  diverse  beasts,  though 
the  tombs  at  Beni-IIassan  picture  a  plough  of  two  handles. 
The  reaping  is  still  done  with  a  hook,  innumerable  pigeons 
gathering  one-twentieth  of  the  crop ;  the  threshing  by  oxen, 
dragging,  however,  a  noreg,  or  threshing  implement ;  win¬ 
nowing  I  have  seen  done  near  Cairo  with  the  winnowing- 
fan,  tossing  the  grain  to  the  breeze. 


3  Daleth,  by  E.  L.  Clark,  p.  115. 


44 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  chief  labor  is  of  irrigating  the  land  as  the  river  falls. 
Large  quantities  of  water  are  reserved  for  a  time  in  great 
dikes  or  canals  along  the  valley,  from  which  it  is  more  ea¬ 
sily  distributed.  But  the  chief  direct  reliance  is  the  main 
river.  Here,  when  the  elevation  is  but  slight,  two  men  will 
stand,  swinging  a  bucket  or  basket  back  and  forth  by  two 
cords  between  them,  and  throwing  the  water  off  by  every 
stroke  all  day  long.  For  a  greater  height,  a  man  uses 
a  bucket  attached  to  a  well-sweep.  This  is  the  shadoof. 


MODERN  SHADOOF. 


Sometimes  a  second  and  even  a  third  shadoof  carries  the 
water  up  successive  stages  before  it  reaches  the  level  of  the 
valley.  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  men  so  occupied  along  the 
river,  and  they  can  be  seen  on  the  old  monuments.  Oc¬ 
casionally  a  creaking  water-wheel  with  buckets,  turned  by 
oxen,  does  the  work  still  more  effectively,  though  rudely 
enough.  This  instrument,  too,  was  not  unknown  of  old. 
Here  and  there  also  may  be  seen  of  late  a  steam-wdieel. 
The  water  thus  lifted  is  received  into  considerable  channels, 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE \ 


45 


from  which  smaller  ones  diverge  at  intervals,  and  from  these 
it  can  be  turned  into  little  rivulets  and  carried  all  over  the 
checker-board  surface  of  the  soil.  The  Fellah  opens  or 
closes  the  rivulets  with  his  foot,  as  the  Scripture  says,  “  Where 
thou  wateredst  the  land  with  thy  foot.”  In  some  regions 
carefully  watered,  three  and  even  four  crops  are  raised  in 
the  year. 

Of  the  crops,  cotton,  Indian  corn  ( doorah ),  and  sugar-cane 
are  comparatively  modern.  I  was  surprised  at  their  ex¬ 
tent.  Maize  constitutes  thirty-six  per  cent,  of  the  grain-crop 
of  the  country.4  The  Khedive,  who  is  said  virtually  to  own 
the  soil  of  Egypt,  has  some  eighteen  sugar-mills.  One  of 
them,  which  I  examined  throughout,  was  fitted  up  with  the 
most  elaborate  and  costly  French  machinery.  But,  though 
I  saw  hundreds  of  hands  employed  in  these  establishments, 

I  learn  that  it  is  with  very  little  improvement  of  their  con¬ 
dition  in  money  or  intelligence.  One  sees  growing,  also, 
abundance  of  wheat,  barley,  beans,  lentiles,  and  clover. 

The  native  trees  are  few.  The  king  of  Egyptian  trees  is 
the  date-palm,  tall  and  slender,  with  its  round  tuft  of  long  . 
plume-like  branches  at  the  top.  Its  supply  of  fruit  is  inval¬ 
uable.  I  found,  to  my  surprise,  almost  as  much  difference 
in  dates  as  in  apples.  The  trunk  of  the  tree,  whole  or  split, 
is  abundantly  employed  for  beams  in  building ;  its  branches 
furnish  wicker  baskets,  bedsteads,  and  light  wood-work ;  its 
leaves  make  mats,  brooms,  baskets ;  the  strong  cloth-like  in¬ 
tegument  that  wraps  the  young  branches  is  converted  into 
ropes  and  mats.  The  number  of  these  trees  corresponds,  in 
a  rough  way,  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  each  being  not 
far  from  five  millions.  A  tree  well  cared  for  will  yield 
what  would  amount  to  nearly  a  pound  a  day,  the  average 


4  Stephan,  Das  Heutige  vEgypten,  p.  78. 


46 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


want  of  a  man.  The  four  elements  of  the  Fellah  are  said 
to  be  the  sun,  the  Nile,  dates,  and  bastinado.  Every  tree  is 
taxed ;  so  is  every  sheep,  ox,  camel,  horse,  donkey,  every 
mouthful  of  clover  the  donkey  eats,  and  the  boy  that  feeds 
and  drives  him,  and  every  bine  robe  worn  by  the  yoov  fel- 
lahin .5  The  tax  of  seven  or  eight  cents  on  each  palm-tree 
has  caused  many  of  them  to  be  cut  down. 

The  Nile  blessed  the  land  in  other  ways.  It  has  been 
from  ancient  times  the  highway  of  Egypt.  No  man’s  prod¬ 
ucts  lay  more  than  four  or  live  miles  from  this  great  thor¬ 
oughfare.  It  cost  ancient  Egypt  nothing  for  roads. 

The  Nile  valley  has  furnished  the  simple  building  mate¬ 
rial  for  the  Egyptian  dwelling.  Its  clay,  sometimes  with 
a  mixture  of  chopped  straw,  and  often  without  it,  simply 
moulded  into  a  brick  and  dried  in  the  sun,  made  a  building 
material  for  the  common  people,  which,  in  the  dry  climate 
of  Middle  and  Upper  Egypt,  will  stand  for  generations.  In¬ 
deed,  near  Zagazig,  at  Bubastis,  or  Pibesetli,  I  traced  the  un¬ 
obliterated  outlines  of  such  bricks,  laid  into  walls  at  great 
depth  below  the  surface — some  seventy-five  or  one  hundred 
feet. 

The  building  material  for  the  temples  and  palaces,  too, 
lay  close  upon  the  great  river.  At  Assouan,  near  the  very 
upper  extremity  of  Egypt,  whence  it  could  be  floated  down 
its  whole  length  by  the  mere  current  of  the  Nile,  was  the 
quarry  of  the  fine  hard  red  granite  of  which  the  obelisks, 
sarcophagi,  and  statues  of  the  whole  land  were  made,  and  of 
that  green  and  gray  granite  which  was  largely  employed  for 
fine  work.  At  Silsileh,  also  far  up  the  Nile,  was  an  inex- 

5  Stephan  (1872)  gives  the  population  at  not  quite  five  millions,  and  the  best 
yield  of  a  palm-tree  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  kilogrammes,  or  about  three  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty  pounds.  The  facts  about  taxation  are  mostly  from  communica¬ 
tions  in  British  journals  during  the  late  discussion  of  Egyptian  affairs. 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


47 


haustible  quarry  of  the  sandstone  which  furnished  materi¬ 
als  for  the  temples. 

But,  so  far  as  shelter  or  even  clothing  is  concerned,  the 
mild  climate  of  the  country  up  the  Nile  creates  little  press¬ 
ing  call  for  either.  The  climate  of  Egypt  is  more  uniform 
than  that  of  almost  any  other  country.  At  Cairo  the  ther¬ 
mometer  seldom  falls  below  forty  degrees.  General  Stone, 
at  Cairo,  told  me  that,  for  twenty-six  days  in  January,  1874, 
it  never  fell  below  fifty -six  degrees  nor  rose  above  sixty  de¬ 
grees  during  his  office  hours.  It  is,  of  course,  warmer  as 
you  ascend  the  Nile.  During  the  month  of  January,  at  al¬ 
most  every  village  along  the  river,  I  saw  stout  boys  of  ten 
or  twelve  stalking  round  at  all  times  of  day,  often  in  the 
streets  and  markets,  without  a  shred  of  clothing. 

With  such  a  climate,  such  a  soil,  such  a  clock-work  regu¬ 
larity  of  seasons,  such  certainty  and  facility  of  irrigation, 
fertilization,  and  cultivation ;  such  ease  of  living,  building, 
clothing,  communication,  and  transportation,  no  wonder  the 
land  was  early  occupied,  and  civilization,  up  to  a  certain  ex¬ 
tent,  early  developed.  So  it  was.  The  earliest  history  of 
infant  Greece  records  an  old  and  mature  society  and  ad¬ 
vanced  arts  in  Egypt. 

The  traveller  in  Upper  Egypt  now  meets  one  class  of  men 
wearing  a  blue  or  black  turban,  slightly  under  the  middle 
size,  with  large  almond-shaped  eyes,  sloping  slightly  upward 
from  the  nose.  They  are  called  Copts.  Many  have  found 
in  them  a  resemblance  to  the  race  pictured  on  the  old  mon¬ 
uments ;  their  name,  “  Koptos,”  is  supposed  to  be  kindred 
with  Aiguptos,  Egypt ;  and  these  men  are  commonly  admit¬ 
ted  to  be  the  descendants,  not  unmixed,  of  the  old  Egyp¬ 
tians.  Their  language  is  substantially  the  key  to  the  hiero¬ 
glyphics.  Some  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of  these 
row  represent  the  race  that  built  the  Pyramids. 


48 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  physical  characteristics  of  the  old  race  have  well  nigh 
faded  out,  however,  and  are  but  dimly  seen.  Well  it  might 
be  so,  for  their  unique  land  has  always  been  an  object  of 
coveting  to  the  outside  nations,  and  again  and  again  has  it 
been  overrun. 

Historically,  this  singular  land  is  a  wonderful  country. 
Far  back  Abraham  looked  in  on  a  great  empire  in  full 
glory,  and  if  he  visited  Memphis,  saw  the  same  pyramid 
that  the  traveller  climbs  to-day ;  while  Joseph,  in  On,  bis 
wife’s  home,  beheld  the  obelisk  on  which.  I  looked,  and 
read  the  same  name.  Meanwhile  the  shepherd  kings,  with 
their  Asiatic  hordes,  overran  the  Delta,  set  up  their  empire, 
and  were  driven  out.  Then  Egyptian  armies  might  be 
seen  sweeping  through  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  into  As¬ 
syria.  Next  came  the  Exodus.  Afterward,  again  and 
again,  Egyptian  armies  were  in  Asia.  And  at  length,  in 
their  national  infancy,  the  Greeks  came  down  to  Egypt  to 
learn  the  rudiments.  Pythagoras  was  here  searching  for 
the  germs  of  philosophy,  Thales  to  learn  mathematics  and 
geometry,  Lycurgus  and  Solon  to  get  hints  of  law  and  gov¬ 
ernment.  Herodotus,  the  oldest  historian,  was  here  with 
his  note-book.  Plato  stayed  thirteen  years  in  On,  or  Heli¬ 
opolis. 

Then  Cambyses  might  be  seen  marching  down  the  coast- 
road  to  conquer  Egypt.  After  him  followed  Alexander 
over  the  same  highway,  discovered  the  chief  harbor,  and 
founded  the  city  that  almost  rivalled  Pome.  In  this  same 
Alexandria  we  watch  the  Ptolemies  gathering  the  learning 
of  the  world,  and  founding  the  library  which,  after  ages  of 
mishaps,  had  material  enough  left  in  Caliph  Omar’s  time, 
a.d.  646,  to  heat,  it  is  said,  six  thousand  baths  six  months 
together.  And  about  the  time  that  Euclid  was  writing  here 
the  geometry  of  all  time,  the  oldest  translation  of  the  Bible 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


49 


was  also  made,  the  Septuagint,  two  hundred  years  before 
Christ.  It  was  then  the  centre  of  Jewish  learning. 

The  Roman  wrenched  it  from  the  Greek.  In  Alexandria 
Antony  fooled  away  an  empire  with  Cleopatra;  and  here 
his  own  sword  drank  the  life-blood  of  the  one  and  the  asp’s 
poison  stopped  the  heart-beat  of  the  other.  Csesar  was  here, 
and  Hadrian,  and  many  of  the  emperors,  and  wrote  their 
names  on  the  temples  of  the  Nile.  Over  that  coast  and  car¬ 
avan  road  at  length  came  and  went  the  infant  Jesus.  With¬ 
in  a  mile  of  the  obelisk  at  Heliopolis,  then  two  thousand 
years  old,  the  Copts  still  show  a  great  sycamore  tree  where 
he  rested  in  the  flight;  and  at  Old  Cairo,  still  more  prepos¬ 
terously,  in  the  subterranean  chapel  of  Sitt  Miriam,  the  two 
stone  niches  in  which  Joseph  and  Mary  rested  at  night. 
They  were  surrounded  by  a  million  Jews  in  Egypt.  In 
Alexandria,  Origen,  the  “  adamantine,”  walked  barefoot, 
slept  on  the  ground,  and  was  stoned  in  the  streets.  Here 
broke  out,  with  speedy  and  terrific  fury,  the  persecutions  of 
Severus,  Decius,  Diocletian.  Here  sprung  up  the  Athana- 
sian  creed  and  the  Arian  heresy.  Here  was  written  the 
venerable  manuscript  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  British 
Museum,  probably  the  Sinaitic,  and  perhaps  the  Vatican  and 
the  Codex  Ephraem.6  Three  valuable  versions  —  Thebaic, 
Memphitic,  and  Basmuric  (of  Thebes,  Memphis,  and  per- 

6  Sharpe  says,  somewhat  too  positively  (Hist.  Egypt,  ii.  316),  “The  most 
ancient  copies  on  parchment,  which  are  the  pride  of  the  Vatican,  the  Paris 
Library,  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  British  Museum,  are  the  work  of  Alexan¬ 
drian  penmen.”  He  adds,  “The  Beza  manuscript  at  Cambridge,  D,  was  writ¬ 
ten  in  Alexandria.”  This  last  statement  should  be  modified  by  saying  that  it 
is  believed  to  be  a  copy,  made  in  the  south  of  France,  from  an  Alexandrian 
manuscript.  As  to  the  other  four,  A  and  B  are  generally  conceded  to  have 
been  written  at  Alexandria.  C  is  referred  to  “  Egypt,”  and  therefore  most 
probably  to  the  same  city ;  and  the  Sinaitic  certainly  presents  very  similar 
characteristics,  and  is  regarded  by  Tischendorf  as  written  by  an  Alexandrian 
copyist. 


4 


50 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


haps  the  Delta) — bear  witness  of  the  early  Christianity  of 
Egypt  in  the  third  century,  perhaps  with  bishoprics  at  Alex¬ 
andria  and  Syene.  Egypt  was  soon  sprinkled  all  over  with 
monasteries  and  thronged  with  monks.  Corinthian  Chris¬ 
tian  columns  are  to  be  seen  inside  the  huge  pillars  of  Medee- 
net  Ilaboo.  St.  Peter  holds  the  keys  in  one  of  the  inner 
walls  of  Karnak.  On  the  knees  of  a  giant  form  of  Raine¬ 
ses  IV.  you  read  in  ancient  Greek,  “  Christ  Jesus  conquers.’1 
Live  monks  once  cast  out  dead  mummies  from  the  hillside 
caves  at  Edfou,  and  scantily  filled  their  places  with  deader 
men.  Seven  Coptic  monasteries  still  remain,  and  one  of 
the  successors  of  those  old  monks  swam  out  to  our  steamer 
from  his  high  perch  on  the  Nile,  and  came  on  deck  in  the 
clothing  of  nature. 

In  the  seventh  century  came  the  Arabs.  At  Cairo 
reigned  Saladin,  the  Crusaders’  brilliant  foe  in  Palestine. 
Near  Damietta  his  successors  captured  Louis  IX.  of  France 
and  thirty  thousand  men.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Turks  rushed  in.  Here  Napoleon  made  that  stirring  battle 
proclamation,  “Forty  centuries  look  down  upon  you  from 
the  pyramids.”  Desaix  left  his  record  written  on  the  Tem¬ 
ple  of  Phil^e ;  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Nile  Nelson  anni¬ 
hilated  the  fleet  of  Napoleon  and  his  visions  of  eastern  em¬ 
pire.  The  land  relapsed  again  into  the  hand  of  the  Turk, 
like  some  living  animal  into  the  huge  tentacles  of  the  jelly¬ 
fish,  sucking  up  its  life.  Mohammed  Ali  lies  in  his  gor¬ 
geous  tomb  and  mosque,  not  far  from  the  court-yard  where 
in  cold  blood  he  slaughtered  five  hundred  Mamelukes,  and 
established  his  reign. 

The  land  is  filled  from  end  to  end  with  the  records  of 
the  early  kings.  And  yet  so  completely  was  the  clew  to 
their  writing  lost,  that  modern  scholars  were  wholly  unable 
to  grasp  the  now  intelligible  statement  of  Clement  of  Alex- 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


51 


andria  concerning  it,  and  began  their  investigations  com¬ 
pletely  in  the  dark.  For  the  first  impulse  to  these  fruitful 
investigations  we  may  thank  that  extraordinary  figure  in 
modern  history,  who  carried  restless  activity  wherever  he 
set  his  foot.  It  was  the  first  Napoleon,  whose  officer,  Bou¬ 
chard,  in  the  construction  of  his  redoubt  near  Bosetta,  stum¬ 
bled  upon  the  famous  tri-lingual  stone  that  now  lies  in  the 
British  Museum.  It  was  his  scholars  who  brought  back 
the  first  copy  of  the  Kitual  of  the  Dead  from  the  tombs 
of  Thebes,  and  who,  by  their  celebrated  Description  de 
l’Egypte,  roused  the  attention  of  Europe.  It  was  a  mar¬ 
vellous  triumph  of  human  skill  to  unlock  and  read  a 
tongue  of  which  at  first  not  even  the  nature  of  the  language 
was  known,  not  a  word,  not  a  letter,  not  even  whether  it 
were  written  in  letters  at  all.  And  abundant  as  are  the 
writings,  it  will  be  perhaps  a  still  greater  and  higher  work 
of  genius  to  construct  from  them  all  a  complete,  continu¬ 
ous,  and  consistent  history  of  Egypt  out  of  the  chaotic,  dis¬ 
connected,  and  dateless  mass  of  material. 

These  materials  of  history  are  found  carved,  painted,  and 
written  in  the  temples  and  tombs,  in  the  writings  and  ob¬ 
jects  of  art  deposited  with  the  dead,  along  the  whole  extent 
of  the  Nile  in  and  above  Egypt.  Some  of  these  vast  build¬ 
ings  were  at  points  which  for  the  time  were  seats  of  govern¬ 
ment,  as  Thebes,  Memphis,  Abydos  (or  Thinis),  Sais,  Bubas- 
tis,  Zoan,  Elephantine;  others  at  selected  spots,  such  as  the 
beautiful  Island  of  Philge,  Denderah,  Esneh,  Ivom  Ombos. 
Speaking  in  a  general  way,  the  monuments  of  Lower  Egypt 
precede  in  age.  The  pyramids  near  Memphis  are  far  older 
than  the  temples  at  Thebes ;  and  still  later  than  these  last 
are  the  temples  of  Philge,  Elephantine,  Esneh,  Erment,  Korn 
Ombos,  and  Denderah.  One  of  the  earliest  fruits  of  hiero¬ 
glyphic  investigation  was  to  prove  that  the  temple  at  Den- 


52 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


derail,  in  which  a  zodiac,  carved  overhead,  was  supposed, 
from  its  relation  to  the  ecliptic,  by  the  early  French  schol¬ 
ars,  to  be  fifteen  or  seventeen  thousand  years  old,  was  really 
only  of  the  times  of  the  early  Koman  emperors,  whose  royal 
rings  were  read  by  Champollion  in  the  vicinity,  and  that 
the  portico  of  the  temple  was  built  by  Tiberius. 

The  pyramids  and  tombs  and  temples  have  been  too  of¬ 
ten  described  to  justify  any  further  description  here.  The 
number  of  the  pyramids  has  been  estimated  variously, 
many  of  them  being  only  ruins.  Lepsius  reckons  about 
sixty,  including  some  very  small  ones.  They  are  found  in 
three  chief  groups,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gheezeh  at  the 
north,  of  Sakkarah  and  Dashoor  in  the  middle,  and  of  Illa- 
lioon  and  neighborhood  at  the  south.  The  greater  part  of 
them  lie  within  a  distance  of  about  twenty  miles.  Those 
of  Gheezeh,  as  is  well  known,  are  far  the  largest.  They 
are  now  generally  conceded  to  be  tombs,  and  only  tombs, 
notwithstanding  the  endeavor  of  some  writers  to  find  in 
them  standards  of  measurement  and  other  uses.7 


7  A  very  extraordinary  volume  was  published  in  1864  by  Professor  Piazzi 
Smyth,  Astronomer  Royal  of  Scotland,  entitled  “Our  Inheritance  in  the  Great 
Pyramid.”  His  theory  is,  that  “Divine  Inspiration  both  suggested  and  gave  its 
characteristic  perfection  to  the  metrology  of  the  Great  Pyramid  ”  “  ages  before 
the  time  of  Moses,  or  even  of  Abraham,”  “  that  its  erection  was  directed  by 
the  fiat  of  Infinite  Wisdom,  and  that  it  contained  the  lasting  records  of  one  of 
those  early  revelations  to  primitive  men”  (pp.  315,  316,  388).  He  finds  in  the 
angles  of  its  passages  “  latitude  indications ;”  in  its  various  dimensions  a  stand¬ 
ard  of  measure  bearing  an  exact  proportion  to  the  circumference  of  the  earth, 
also  “indicating  the  shape  as  well  as  the  size  of  the  earth”  (p.  44);  in  its 
sarcophagus,  a  standard  measure  of  capacity  and  weight,  also  related  to  the 
mass  and  density  of  the  earth  (p.  144);  in  its  passages,  gallery,  and  hall,  a 
standard  symbol  of  time,  in  days,  weeks,  months,  and  years,  with  a  leap-year 
(pp.  270-274).  He  goes  to  such  lengths  as  to  find  specific  allusions  to  these 
things  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Thus  in  Job  xxxviii.  4-7,  and  Zech. 
iv.  7,  the  “  corner-stone  ”  laid  when  “  the  morning-stars  sang  together,”  the 
“  liead-stone  brought  out  with  shoutings,  Grace,  grace  unto  it,”  was  the  top- 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


53 

The  ascent  of  the  Great  Pyramid  has  become  a  sufficient¬ 
ly  commonplace  affair.  There  is  no  danger,  and,  to  a  per¬ 
son  of  moderate  vigor,  no  difficulty.  You  learn  to  appre¬ 
ciate  the  size  of  the  huge  pile  as  it  looms  up  before  you 
during  the  drive  of  an  hour  and  a  half  from  Cairo.  As  you 
approach,  a  score  of  Arabs  crowd  around  to  help  in  various 


ways,  and  all  for  the  perpetual  “  backsheesh.”  The  sheikh 
in  charge  assigns  you  three  men,  to  whom  you  surrender 
yourself  more  or  less,  as  you  please.  If  you  choose  to  have 


stone  of  the  Great  Pyramid  (pp.  360-2) ;  and  even  the  passage  Eph.  ii.  7  is 
“  an  unmistakable  allusion  to  the  pyramid  ”  (p.  363).  All  this  extravagance  is 
mingled  with  many  utterances  of  religious  zeal,  which  make  it  the  more  to  be 
regretted.  General  Sir  Henry  James,  of  the  British  Ordnance  Survey,  in  his 
brief  Notes  on  the  Great  Pyramid  (1869)  has  punctured  this  bubble  summarily, 
but  satisfactorily.  He  shows  that  the  angle  of  the  passages  was  simply  “  the 
angle  of  rest,”  adapted  to  the  most  convenient  admission  of  the  sarcophagus, 
and  the  dimensions  were  “  simple  geometrical  problems.”  The  computations 
referred  to  he  designates  “  crotchets  about  numbers,”  commonly  not  having 
even  the  merit  of  accuracy  in  reckoning,  nor  agreement  in  the  testimony  of 
facts.  He  well  characterizes  such  arguments  as  “  extravagant  nonsense.”  All 
the  leading  modern  investigators,  e.  g.,  Birch,  Brugsch,  Lepsius,  Mariette,  agree 
that  these  buildings  were  simply  tombs,  built,  however,  in  accordance  with 
Egyptian  standards  of  measurement,  in  which  the  cubit  appears  to  be  20.7 
inches. 


54 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


_  _  s?  os*/ 9<r  >  /  _«•  4  .J'l  W/VJ  0.^4. 

THE  PYRAMIDS. 


it  so,  one  takes  you  by  the  right  hand  and  one  by  the  left, 
while  the  third  occasionally  applies  the  vis  a  tergo ,  you 
scarcely  bending  your  joints ;  and  so  they  will  tug  you  up 
the  layers  of  stones  that  are  often  more  than  breast  high ; 
or  you  can  take  it  more  slowly,  and  climb  very  comfortably 
by  yourself.  But  as  you  toil  your  way  upward,  heated  and 
panting,  you  begin  to  comprehend  what  a  mountain  of  ma¬ 
sonry  you  are  climbing ;  a  solid  mass  of  huge  granite  blocks, 
originally  higher  than  any  other  building  of  man,  and  about 
three-fifths  of  a  mile  in  circuit,  and  yet  not  a  stone-chipping 
to  be  found  in  the  vicinity.  It  is  a  fine  Oriental  scene  from 
the  summit,  up  and  down  the  Nile,  exhibiting  Cairo  and 
its  minarets  in  full  sight.  The  entrance  of  the  pyramid  is  a 
much  more  disagreeable  process  than  the  ascent.  Through 
dust  arid  heat  a  hard  and  often  slippery  passage  slopes 
downward,  then  upward,  three  hundred  and  forty  feet,  and 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


55 


enters  a  dark  chamber  in  the  heart  of  this  great  mass  of 
stone;  and  in  it  is  a  well-battered  chest  of  red  granite,  that 
perhaps  once  contained  the  mummy  of  King  Cheops,  or 
Chufu.  But,  alas!  all  this  pile  of  masonry  could  not  keep 
his  bones. 

While  in  the  heart  of  this  dreary  mass  of  stone  is  the 
Arab’s  opportunity.  He  has,  perhaps,  persuasively  suggest¬ 
ed  the  word  “  backsheesh  ”  at  several  of  the  harder  stations 
without,  in  ascending  or  descending.  But  now  he  some- 
times  enforces  his  petition  by  extinguishing  the  tapers  in 
this  frightful  hole.  The  company  in  which  I  went  was  too 
numerous  and  formidable  for  the  experiment ;  but  two  gen¬ 
tlemen  from  the  same  hotel,  who  entered  the  pyramid  sepa¬ 
rately,  were  welcomed  to  the  “  King’s  Chamber  ”  in  this 
mode.  One  of  them — a  timid  elderly  German — was  liter¬ 
ally  fleeced  of  all  the  money  he  had  about  him.  The  other 
— a  young  and  vigorous  American — raised  his  heavy  cane  so 
fiercely  at  the  beginning  of  the  process  that  his  Arabs  tum¬ 
bled  over  each  other  in  their  fright,  and  surrendered  uncon¬ 
ditionally. 

In  conceiving  of  an  Egyptian  temple,  we  must  remember 
that  it  is  not  a  place  of  assembly  for  public  worship,  but  the 
shrine  of  a  god,  or  commonly  of  a  triad  of  gods.  A  pylon, 
or  grand  gate-way,  admitted  sometimes  to  a  double  row  of 
sphinxes,  and  this  to  a  propylon,  another  great  gate-way  in 
the  middle  of  a  long  massive  wall ;  then  came  an  open  court 
or  courts,  with  statues  or  obelisks,  and  rows  of  columns  ;  and 
still  beyond  a  series  of  large  rooms,  dimly  lighted  by  small 
openings  in  the  roof,  or  at  the  angle  of  the  roof  and  wall. 
Around  these  large  rooms  were  smaller  ones,  and  there  were 
also  hidden  passages  in  the  walls  and  secret  chambers  be¬ 
neath.  The  vast  columns  are  variously  carved,  sometimes 
with  capitals  like  a  papyrus,  or  a  lotus-bud  or  flower.  Walls, 


56 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ceiling,  and  columns  were  carved  with  sculptures  and  hiero¬ 
glyphics  ;  and  even  the  darkest  passages  and  subterranean 
chambers  that  I  wound  through  at  Denderah  were  all  pol¬ 
ished  and  delicately  carved.  Besides  the  completeness  of 
the  finish,  one  is  still  more  surprised,  and  at  times  amazed,  at 
the  immensity  of  this  accumulation.  Particularly  is  this  the 
case  at  Thebes,  where  statues  are  found  with  the  fingers  four 
feet  long;  sphinxes,  originally  by  the  thousand;  obelisks  by 
the  half-dozen ;  propylons  as  long  as  a  city  block  and  as  tall 
as  a  church-steeple ;  columns  large  enough  to  contain  a  Zulu 
dwelling,  with  its  occupants  sleeping  at  full  length,  foot 
to  foot,  across  the  centre ;  and  in  one  instance  a  temple,  or 
rather  mass  of  temple  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length, 
every  part  of  it  elaborately  wrought  and  covered  with  carv¬ 
ings  and  hieroglyphics.8  The  entire  effect  of  this  vast  con¬ 
gress  of  buildings  is  oppressively  grand.  Before  such  enor¬ 
mous  masses  of  walls  and  columns,  and  acres  of  carved 
workmanship,  all  other  buildings  necessarily  seem  small. 

The  tombs  of  the  kings  and  men  of  rank  are  on  a  scale 
somewhat  proportionate.  A  series  of  chambers  and  pas¬ 
sages  extending  eight  hundred  feet  into  the  solid  rock  is 
itself  a  small  village.  But  it  must  also  be  remembered  that 
the  great  mass  of  the  dead  were  packed  away  in  their  ruder 
catacombs  by  the  hundred  and  the  thousand,  tier  upon  tier. 
In  nothing  is  the  contrast  between  the  people  and  the  mon- 
archs  more  completely  signalized  than  in  the  mud  hovels  of 
the  poor,  every  vestige  of  which  has  melted  away,  and  the 
almost  imperishable  buildings  of  the  Pharaohs;  and  in  the 

8  The  great  temple  at  Karnak  is  1180  feet  from  front  to  rear;  its  propylon 
370  feet  in  length,  140  feet  in  height,  and  50  feet  thick;  12  central  columns  of 
the  134  in  its  wonderful  “Hall  of  Columns”  are  11-^  feet  in  diameter.  It  con¬ 
tains  two  fallen  and  two  standing  obelisks,  75  and  92  feet  in  height  (besides 
two  others  at  Luxor,  one  of  which  has  been  moved  to  Paris),  and  its  avenues  are 
estimated  to  have  contained  some  4000  sphinxes. 


GREAT  HALL  AT  KARNAK 


, 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


59 


difference  whereby  the  deceased  monarch  lay  alone  in  his 
vast  palace,  and  the  common  dead  were  hustled  away  pro¬ 
miscuously,  and  piled  up,  like  so  much  rubbish,  in  a  com¬ 
mon  storehouse. 

All  these  objects  are  now  brought  so  easily  before  the  eye 
of  the  traveller  by  the  steamer  trip,  that  to  go  up  the  Nile  is 
almost  one  of  the  fashions  at  present.  If  one  lias  plenty  of 
money  and  leisure,  the  “  dahabeeah  ”  (Nile  boat)  is  an  admi¬ 
rable  method  of  dreaming  away  two  or  three  winter  months 
in  the  open  air  of  a  delicious  climate.  It  has  its  disadvan¬ 
tages,  sailing  with  the  wind  only,  by  day  or  by  night,  tugged 
along  by  hard  labor  when  the  wind  is  adverse,  and  occasion¬ 
ally  spending  days,  or  even  a  week,  on  a  bar.  The  steamer 
runs  only  by  daylight,  and  hastens  along  directly  to  the 
places  of  special  interest.  Still,  even  the  steamer  will  some¬ 
times  run  aground ;  and  we  lay  one  whole  day  helpless  in 
the  mud.  We  were  lifted  off  by  the  forced  labor  of  the  vil¬ 
lagers,  who  at  first  had  fled  at  the  sight.  But  in  vain ;  the 
Khedive’s  order  brought  them  back  to  three  hours  of  toil 
ill  mud  and  water. 

The  traveller  who  goes  in  either  way  gets,  after  all,  but  a 
rapid  glance  at  the  wonderful  monuments  upon  the  Nile. 
Three  days  or  three  weeks  at  Thebes  are  entirely  inade¬ 
quate.  The  scholar,  in  either  case,  after  satisfying  his  eye, 
and,  as  it  were,  grasping  the  scene,  must  fall  back  upon  the 
labors  of  Wilkinson,  Rosellini,  Lepsius,  and  others,  for  his 
deliberate  study. 

What  there  is  of  modern  Egypt  is,  alas,  soon  seen.  One 
dirty  Arab  town  with  its  mud-brick  houses,  multiplied  by 
two,  three,  or  ten,  stands  essentially  for  any  other.  The 
scenes  that  are  Oriental,  or  simply  Egyptian,  however  pictur¬ 
esque,  vary  only  within  a  limited  circle.  Solemn  camels, 
of  which  I  have  seen  eighty  in  one  long  file ;  diminutive 


60 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


donkeys,  odd  costumes,  naked  boys,,  and  the  eternal  din  of 
“  backsheesh,”  soon  become  familiar.  One  speedily  sees  all 
there  is  of  agricultural  life:  the  irrigation  from  the  Nile  by 
basket,  shadoof,  or  ox-power  water-wheels;  the  fields  divided 
like  a  chess-board  to  receive  the  water ;  the  ploughing  of  ox 
and  ass  together,  with  a  plough  that  lias  not  improved  in 
three  thousand  years ;  the  threshing  by  oxen ;  the  winnow¬ 
ing-fan,  two  women  grinding  at  the  mill,  as  well  as  the 
ass  millstone  (Mark  ix.  42,  Greek),  the  dom-  trees,  acacias, 
and  feathery  palm-groves. 

The  scenery  of  the  Nile,  as  far  as  the  first  cataract,  is  also, 
roughly  speaking,  one  long-continued  reiteration  of  three  or 
four  different  views,  with  modifications  more  or  less,  all  thor¬ 
oughly  Oriental  and  unique ;  a  narrow  strip  of  fertile  valle}- 
lining  a  broad  placid  river,  and  enclosed  on  one  side  or  on 
both  sides  by  sandy  bluffs  or  long  ranges  of  horizontal  sand¬ 
stone  or  limestone  strata,  sometimes  high,  notched,  and  jag¬ 
ged  in  the  outline,  with  frequent  palm-groves  rising  against 
the  horizon,  and  less  frequent  mud-villages  dotting  the  dead 
level  of  the  plain.  The  sugar-cane  and  cotton  relieve  the 

monotony  of  the  ancient  culture,  while  here  and  there  the 

€/  ' 

tall  chimneys  of  the  Khedive’s  sugar-mills  hold  out  the 
mocking  sign  of  an  industry  that  benefits  chiefly  the  owner’s 
pocket.  The  sight  of  the  Arab  population,  from  one  end  of 
Egypt  to  the  other,  strikes  one  as  that  of  a  fine  race  groan¬ 
ing  under  a  government  that  with  borrowed  money  builds 
palaces  and  sugar-mills,  runs  its  costly  operas,  grinds  the 
poor  with  oppressive  taxation,  and  does  almost  nothing  for 
their  real  elevation. 

I  never  before  so  realized,  as  in  this  Nile  trip,  the  splen¬ 
did  natural  advantages  which  made  Egypt  the  cradle  of 
civilization,  and  caused  it  to  play,  for  some  thousands  of 
years,  so  important  a  part  in  the  world’s  history.  Where  is 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


61 


there  a  land  like  it  ?  A  long  strip  of  bottomless  soil,  all  of 
it  lying  within  a  little  more  than  an  hour’s  walk  of  a  great 
navigable  stream,  which  pierces  it  from  end  to  end ;  that 
soil  receiving  an  annual  top-dressing  which  supersedes  ma¬ 
nures,  and  without  a  stone  to  break  the  coulter  of  a  wooden 
plough ;  a  climate  that  necessitates  but  the  slightest  clothing ; 
an  atmosphere  so  dry  as  never  to  wash  away  a  mud-brick 
house ;  the  whole  surface  of  the  ground  annually  watered 
with  almost  the  regularity  of  a  clock ;  the  useful  metals,  if 
not  within  its  borders,  yet  within  easy  reach  bv  land  and 
sea,  in  Nubia,  Arabia,  and  the  lands  of  the  Mediterrane¬ 
an — what  more  was  needed  for  an  early,  rapid,  long  devel¬ 
opment?  The  chief  danger  was  that  the  natives  coveted 
such  a  “  happy  valley;”  and  the  Hyksos,  Assyrians,  Persians, 
Greeks,  Romans,  and  Turks  sought  to  seize  it. 

And  yet  in  the  Nile  trip  we  are  made  to  apprehend  viv¬ 
idly  the  narrow  limits  of  the  land.  A  shrewd  but  skeptical 
gentleman,  who  had  spent  seventeen  years  in  Egypt,  made 
to  me  the  suggestive  remark,  that  he  was  as  much  puzzled 
to  dispose  of  three  thousand  as  of  five  thousand  years  of 
old  Egyptian  history;  for  it  was  impossible  to  understand 
where  the  accumulated  population  of  such  a  period  could 
find  room  in  a  territory  which  above  Cairo  is  not  more  than 
ten  miles  wide,  and  often  far  less.  These  questions  of  chro¬ 
nology  still  wait  for  thorough  solution.  They  can  wait. 

A  Biblical  scholar  cannot  make  the  Nile  excursion  so 
rapidly  as  not  to  derive  a  fresh  interest  in  these  events  of 
hoary  antiquity,  and  a  new  sense  of  their  near  presence, 
lie  is  made  to  feel  that  at  a  bound  he  has  passed  over  the 
times  not  only  of  Caliph  Omar,  or  even  of  Cleopatra,  but 
of  Alexander  and  Cambyses,  on  the  soil  where  they  were 
modern  invaders.  At  Cairo  he  has  seen  (in  the  museum) 
the  statue  of  Tirhaka,  the  King  of  Ethiopia  (2  Kings 


62 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


xix.  9),  and  probably  that  of  Menephta,  whom  many  be¬ 
lieve  to  be  the  ill-fated  monarch  of  the  Exodus.  At  Beni- 
Ilassan  he  looks  upon  the  bearded  Asiatic  faces,  once  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  Jacob’s  sons,  but  now  known  to  be  more  an¬ 
cient  than  they.  Here,  too,  are  drawn  the  sports  and  the 
domestic  life  of  that  far-off  time,  and  the  agriculture,  with 
its  plough  so  nearly  that  of  the  modern  Arab.  Here,  too, 
is  the  veritable  prototype  of  the  Doric  column,  a  thousand 
years  or  more  before  the  siege  of  Troy.  In  the  tombs  at 
xVsyoot  I  saw  a  picture- — the  only  one  in  the  world  —  of 
those  huge  shields,  such  as  Xenophon  describes  only  about 
twenty-two  hundred  years  ago,  as  the  shield  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians.  The  temple  of  Abydos  is  carved  all  over  inside 
with  the  name  of  Bameses,  in  whose  reign  possibly  Moses 
was  born  ;  and  in  one  room  he  is  to  be  seen  offering  hom¬ 
age  and  worship  to  a  selection  of  fifty  of  his  royal  prede¬ 
cessors — a  moderate  ancestry.  Next  in  order  up  the  Nile 
was  Denderah  and  its  beautiful  temple,  where  one  studies 
out  on  the  ceiling  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  once  made  fa¬ 
mous  by  a  great  controversy  which  was  thought  to  affect 
the  Biblical  chronology,  now  found  to  be  baseless.  Here, 
too,  is  the  bass-relief  portrait  of  the  vile  and  versatile  Cleo¬ 
patra;  but  it  suggests  no  hint  of  beauty.  Next  follows 
Thebes  with  its  bewildering  wealth  of  antiquities.  How 
can  one  even  mention  all  its  objects  of  interest  ? — those 
tombs  so  crowded  with  the  delineations  of  dai ly  life,  down 
to  the  thirteen-stringed  harp  that  cheered  the  monarch  ages 
ago ;  the  Memnonium  and  its  vast  broken  statue,  measur¬ 
ing  twenty-three  feet  across  the  shoulders,  fit  image  of  the 
colossal  ambition  of  Bameses  II.,  its  subject;  the  temple  of 
Medeenet  Ilaboo,  and  its  savage  scenes  of  forgotten  warfare  ; 
the  little  temple  of  Dayr  el  Medeeneh,  with  its  clear  and 
clean-cut  delineation  of  the  judgment  of  the  soul  after 


EGYPT  AND  THE  NILE. 


03 


death  ;  the  two  great  colossi,  sitting  solitary  and  dumb, 
though  “  vocal  ”  once  to  the  superstitious  ear.  Here,  too, 
one  sees  occasional  bricks  mixed  with  chopped  straw;9  and 
I  saw  fifty  women  at  a  funeral,  shrieking,  but  not  quite 
with  the  “grievous  mourning”  of  the  Egyptians.10 

On  the  other  side  of  the  river,  in  that  enormous  temple, 
or  congeries  of  temples,  at  Karnak,  the  hugest  specimen  of 
architecture  that  the  world  knows,  Sheskonk,  or  Shishak,11 
stands  receiving  his  captives,  among  whom  is  a  representa¬ 
tive  of  “  Judah.”  Tirhaka’s  name  is  carved  on  a  column  ; 
Seti  conquers  Kanana  (Canaan) ;  and  Thothmes  III.  enu¬ 
merates  among  his  tributaries  “Cush11  and  the  “Aperu.” 
At  the  sandstone  quarries  of  Silsileh  one  reads  the  name  of 
Menephta  and  his  father  cut  in  the  neighboring  grottoes. 
At  Assouan  still  more  ancient  monarchs  have  set  their 
marks,  and  the  old  builders  have  left  unfinished  in  the 
quarry  a  huge  red  granite  obelisk  ninety-five  feet  long. 
The  romantic  island  of  Philse,  and  its  temple  with  gayly 
painted  ceiling  and  columns,  and  its  cop}^  of  the  decree  on 
the  famous  Bosetta  stone,  close  the  moving  diorama;  and 
the  traveller  turns  homeward,  knowing  that  he  has  walked 
with  the  ages  of  the  past,  held  converse  with  the  once 
mighty  dead  in  their  own  chosen  scenes,  and  looked  right 
in  on  the  contemporaries  of  the  kings,  prophets,  and  patri¬ 
archs  of  the  Bible. 

When  this  outline  is  filled  up  with  all  the  details  and 
customs  of  life  which  these  monuments  unfold,  it  is  aston¬ 
ishing  to  see  how  full  the  brief  patriarchal  narrative  is  of 
what  may  be  called  reminiscences  of  Egypt.  The  two  rec- 
ords  coalesce  alike  in  what  they  contain  and  what  they  do 
not  contain,  in  what  they  assert  and  in  what  they  imply. 


0  Exod.  v.  7. 


10  Gen.  i.  11. 


11  1  Kings  xiv.  25. 


64 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


This  singular  and  often  recondite  interlacing  of  Biblical 
and  monumental  history  becomes  increasingly  apparent 
with  every  new  research.  The  state  of  the  arts  and  man¬ 
ufactures,  the  methods  of  agriculture,  the  condition  of  so¬ 
cial  and  civil  life,  stand  mutually  responsive  in  the  two 
histories,  with  a  remarkable  and  often  subtle  coincidence. 
And  thus,  whereas  fifty  years  ago  it  was  the  fashion  to 
sneer  at  the  errors  in  the  Scripture  narrative  of  Egypt,  the 
pendulum  has  swung  wholly  to  the  other  side,  and  men 
now  descant  with  equal  coolness  on  the  wonderful  extent 
to  which  Jewish  customs  and  institutions  were  directly  bor¬ 
rowed  from  Egypt. 


PHARAOH. 


65 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PHARAOH. 

Excepting  Caesar,  there  has  been  no  prouder  royal  name 
than  Pharaoh,  and  no  haughtier  monarchy  than  that  before 
which  Abraham  and  Moses  stood  in  Egypt.  The  nation 
boasted  in  the  days  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  with  some  exagger¬ 
ation,  that  for  forty-seven  hundred  years  they  had  been  gov¬ 
erned  mostly  by  native  princes,  and  had  been  the  most  pros¬ 
perous  nation  in  the  world.1  They  alleged  the  fact  as  prov¬ 
ing  the  superiority  of  their  laws.  They  could  and  did  claim, 
without  contradiction,  to  have  been  the  instructors  of  the  na¬ 
tions,  the  school  to  which  Orpheus  and  Homer,  Pythagoras 
and  Solon,  alike  resorted.  Letters,  laws,  geometry,  astrono¬ 
my,  the  arch,  the  Doric  column,  and  the  lyre  were  among 
the  things  that  the  Greeks  saw  in  Egypt  before  the  dawn  of 
their  own  brilliant  history. 

If  an  ancestry  older  than  all  history,  unequalled  massive¬ 
ness  of  architecture,  a  wonderful  development  of  natural 
resources,  wide  conquests,  vast  wealth,  despotic  power,  and 
magnificence  of  state,  could  be  just  grounds  of  pride,  then 
had  the  Pharaoh  reason  to  be  proud.  The  nation  viewed 
him  as  the  embodiment  of  all  its  ancient  grandeur.  He  was 
“  the  son  of  the  sun,”  “the  image  of  the  god  Ra  among 
men,”2  himself  descended  from  the  gods.  He  would  seem 
after  death  to  have  joined  the  gods ;  for  the  Table  of  Aby- 


1  Diodorus  Siculus,  i.  68. 


5 


2  In  the  inscriptions. 


06 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


dos  and  the  Chamber  of  the  Ancestors  represent  the  living 
monarch  worshipping  his  own  long  line  of  ancestors,  and 
a^ain  and  as-ain  does  some  deceased  monarch  receive  offer- 
ings  from  the  living.3  The  name  Pharaoh,  once  supposed  to 
mean  “  the  king,”  then  “  the  sun  ”  (Ph-ra),  has  more  recently 
been  interpreted,  “  the  great  house,”  somewhat  like  “  the  Sub¬ 
lime  Porte.”4 

We  cannot  well  appreciate  the  position  of  Moses  except 
as  in  some  degree  we  comprehend  the  exaltation  of  Pha¬ 
raoh.  A  distant  awe  surrounded  the  monarch.  Priests  and 
nobles  were  his  body-servants,  and  their  service  was  singu¬ 
larly  abject.  One  of  them  has  gratefully  recorded  his 
privilege  of  wearing  sandals  in  the  palace.  The  mon¬ 
arch’s  authority,  in  theory,  was  despotic.  There  were  limits 
to  his  power  in  the  accidental  influence  of  his  officers,  and 
also,  according  to  Diodorus,  in  the  cumbrous  restrictions 
imposed  by  the  greatness  of  his  condition.  Pharaoh  was 
Egypt.  The  Egyptian  language  is  not  known  to  have  con¬ 
tained  a  word  corresponding  to  the  familiar  term  “  people  ” 
of  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew;  nor  do  the  monuments 
contain  an  intimation  of  the  royal  function,  so  prominent  in 
the  Psalms  and  prophecies,  of  caring  for  the  poor  and  op¬ 
pressed,  and  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  lowly.  He  was 
not  for  the  nation,  but  the  nation  for  him.  Indeed,  lie 

3  E.  g.,  Seti  I.,  or  Rameses  I.,  from  Rameses  II. ;  Thothmes  I.  from  Thothmes 

III 

4  Josephus  interpreted  it  “the  king,”  and  many  scholars  follow  him,  connect¬ 
ing  the  word  with  the  Coptic  Ph-ouro,  “  the  king.”  Rosellini,  Rawlinson,  Lep- 
sius,  Poole,  have  held  that  it  is  Ph-ra ,  “  the  sun.”  But  Rouge,  Brugsch,  Ebers, 
observe  that  both  the  Hebrew  and  the  hieroglyphics  divide  the  syllables,  not  as 
Pha-raoh,  “  the  sun,”  but  as  Phar-aoh,  “  great  house,  or  houses,”  in  accordance 
with  the  statement  of  Herapollo,  i.  61,  that  the  hieroglyphic  group  means  oiicog 
I utyac.  See  Brugsch,  Histoire  d’Egypte  (second  edition),  p.  35  ;  Speaker’s  Com¬ 
mentary,  ii.  479  ;  Ebers’  Egypt,  und  die  Bucher  Moses,  p.  264.  Rouge  first  made 
the  suggestion. 


PHARAOH. 


67 


“  meets  and  embraces  the  gods  themselves  in  his  sculptures,” 
says  Mr.  William  Palmer,  “  more  as  a  brother  and  an  equal, 
than  with  any  humility  as  a  worshipper.” 

All  the  pictorial  representations  exhibit  the  monarch  in 

the  glory  of  greatness.  _ _ 

He  goes  through 


elaborate  coronation 
ceremonies,  and  re¬ 
ceives  the  royal  in¬ 
signia  from  the  god 
Amun  Re.  He  sac¬ 
rifices  to  the  gods, 
and  is  the  object  of 
their  special  care  and 
attendance.  He  rides 
in  his  chariot.  He 
smites  down  his  en¬ 
emies.  He  receives 
the  captives,  the 
spoils,  and  the  trib¬ 
ute.  He’ surveys  the 
great  heap  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  human  hands 
or  tongues,  and  dis¬ 
tributes  rewards  to 
his  hosts.  He  slaugh¬ 
ters  lions  with  his  ar¬ 
rows  and  spear.  Oc¬ 
casionally  he  is  seen, 
surrounded  by  the 
ladies  of  his  harem, 


WOODEN  STATUE - REFERRED  BY  MARIETTE  BEY  TO 

THE  FOURTH  DYNASTY. 


bringing  flowers,  and  once  he  is  playing  at  draughts  with  his 
queen.  His  residence  was  both  palace  and  temple.  The 


68 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


imagination  can  scarcely  conceive  a  greater  contrast  than 
between  the  mud-built  houses  of  the  people  and  the  stupen¬ 
dous  piles  erected  by  the  monarchs.  In  death  their  great¬ 
ness  followed  them  to  their  sumptuous  tombs. 

What  the  pyramids  were  to  the  earlier  dynasties,  the  vast 
rock-hewn  tombs  of  Thebes  were  to  the  latter,  especially 
from  the  seventeenth  to  the  twenty-sixth.  Here,  in  subter¬ 
ranean  palaces  of  immense  extent,  were  laid  to  rest  the  Pha¬ 
raoh  of  the  earlier  oppression,  and  many  of  his  ancestors  and 
successors.  There  are  said  to  be  nearly  fifty  of  these  royal 
tombs.  But  it  is  a  noteworthy  comment  on  the  fate  of  hu¬ 
man  pride,  that  few  of  these  tombs  are  completed/ 

I  visited  four  of  these  royal  tombs  (of  Seti  I.,  Bameses 
III.,  VI.,  and  IX.),  and  one  of  a  private  person  (Petamu- 
nopli),  the  last  of  which  penetrates  into  the  rock,  though  not 
wholly  in  the  same  direction,  to  the  enormous  distance  of 
eight  hundred  and  sixty  feet — one-third  more  than  the 
length  of  St.  Peter’s — and  is  constructed  with  many  lateral 
chambers.  We  penetrated  this  last  one  till  the  bats  drove 
us  back.  Through  a  succession  of  stairways  and  passages, 
you  reach  at  length  one  or  more  main  halls,  one  of  which 
originally  contained  the  sarcophagus.  Nearly  every  part 
of  these  walls  is  covered  with  hieroglyphics  and  bass-relief 
sculptures  and  paintings.  Here,  says  Penan,  “  the  dead  lift 
up  their  voice  and  tell  the  tale  of  their  whole  life.”  One 
finds  here  a  more  complete  and  exact  representation  of 
Egyptian  life  three  or  four  thousand  years  ago  than  we  can 
get  of  American  life  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  We 
see  their  agriculture  in  every  stage;  the  whole  range  of 
their  kitchen-cookery ;  their  armor  of  every  description ; 
their  feasts  and  pompous  funeral  processions ;  their  mechan- 

5  E.  L.  Clarke,  in  his  Daleth,  p.  231,  says:  “Not  a  single  tomb  is  finished.” 
This  may  be  too  strong. 


PHARAOH. 


69 


ic  arts — the  manufacture  of  furniture,  ropes,  bricks,  shoes, 
glass;  their  sports  and  athletic  games.  Here  harpers  play 
on  their  gayly-colored  harps;  female  dancers  entertain  the 
guests;  servants  anoint  their  heads,  or  hand  them  the  wine- 
cup  and  the  lotus. 

These  and  other  disclosures  make  it  evident  that  the 
monarchs  of  the  oppression  and  the  Exodus  were  surround¬ 
ed  by  the  fruits  of  conquest,  the  products  of  skill,  the  lux¬ 
uries  of  wealth,  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  the  comforts  of 
domestic  life,  in  a  variety  and  extent  wholly  unparalleled 
in  that  remote  age,  and  well  calculated  to  till  them  with  all 
the  pride  of  power.  These  huge  piles  of  architecture  were 
scattered  at  intervals  for  more  than  seven  hundred  miles 
along  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  from  San  to  Aboo  Simbel;  and, 
to  say  nothing  of  their  number,  the  world  has  yet  seen  no 
such  mountainous  accumulations  of  stone  as  at  Gheezeh, 
nor  any  such  amazing  mass  of  Titanic  architecture  as  at 
Karnak.  The  workmen  of  the  Pharaohs  covered  with  deep, 
clear  carvings  a  multitude  of  columns,  now  so  hard  that  a 
few  lines  of  inscription  are  said  to  have  turned  the  edge 
of  the  best  tools  in  Paris :  their  engineers  laid  stone  lintels, 
forty  feet  in  length,  high  in  the  air;  set  up  obelisks  ninety 
feet  high  and  eight  feet  square;  and  transported  and  safely 
handled  the  great  granite  statue  that  weighed  near  nine 
hundred  tons ;  their  sculptors  could  cut  a  hill  of  rock  into 
an  enormous  sphinx  of  admirable  proportions,  or  could 
carve  a  wooden  block  into  the  statue  of  a  village  sheikh, 
“with  a  truth,  grace,  and  fidelity  which  shows  the  hand  of 
a  great  master.”6  Their  jewellers  could  skilfully  work  the 

6  Birch’s  History  of  Egypt,  p.  44.  This  most  remarkable  statue  in  the  Bou- 
lak  Museum  is  of  very  great  antiquity.  The  seated  statue  of  Cephrenes  is  very 
admirable.  They  are  hundreds  of  years  anterior  to  the  dawn  of  Grecian  sculp¬ 
ture.  Mariette  Bey  ascribes  to  the  former  an  age  of  six  thousand  years.  See 
foot-note  on  p.  38. 


70 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


precious  metals  into  elaborate  ornaments,  and  could  deli¬ 
cately  carve  names  and  figures  on  the  hardest  stones.  Many 
hundred  years  before  the  siege  of  Troy  there  stood,  where 
there  still  stands,  at  the  tombs  of  Beni-Hassan,  the  pattern  of 
the  Doric  shaft.  The  great  canal  connecting  the  Nile  and 
the  Bed  Sea  dates  back  probably  farther  than  the  time  of 
the  Exodus,  and  earlier  yet  was  the  construction  of  the  cel¬ 
ebrated  Lake  Moeris,  and  the  vast  engineering  works  along 
the  Nile,  to  regulate  the  irrigation  of  the  land.7  Arches  of 
crude  brick  belong  to  the  time  of  Thothmes  III.,  and  even 
of  Amunoph  I.,  and  the  stone  arch  is  found  in  the  seventh 
century  before  Christ.8 

The  hieroglyphics  that  cover  the  buildings  of  the  Pha¬ 
raohs  are  older  than  any  known  form  of  writing,  and  seem 
to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  principle  of  the  alphabet, 
although  our  completed  alphabet  came  to  us  through  those 
great  traders,  the  Phoenicians.  The  Egyptians  wrote  on 
papyrus,  and  gave  us  thence  the  name  “paper;”  and  they 
used  parchment,  it  would  appear,  ages  before  it  took  its 
name  from  Pergamus.9 

Four  thousand  years  ago  glass  was  manufactured,  and 
employed  for  beads  and  bottles.  The  process  of  blowing  it 
can  still  be  seen  depicted  at  Beni-IIassan ;  and  a  glass  bead 
exists,  neatly  engraved  in  clear,  sharp  hieroglyphics,  with 
the  name  of  Amun-m-het,  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  Christ.  They  could  imitate  in  glass  the  amethyst 
and  other  precious  stones ;  and  Wilkinson  found  mock 
pearls  at  Thebes  difficult  of  detection  with  a  strong  lens.10 


7  Lepsius  distinguishes  successive  stages  of  the  construction  of  the  canal 
from  the  time  of  Raineses  to  that  of  Darius. 

8  Sharpe’s  Egypt,  i.  162  ;  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  300. 

9  Wilkinson  (Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  98)  says,  twelve  hundred  years  previous. 

10  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  59,  64. 


Fig.  1.  Arch  bearing  name  of  Thothmes  III. ;  2.  Glass  bead,  about  1450  n.o. ;  3.  Inscrip¬ 
tion  on  bead,  “  Amnn-m-het 4,5.  Columns  at  Beni-Hassau ;  6.  Section  of  No.  5: 
7.  Egyptian  capital,  showing  origin  of  the  Doric. 


H  ■ 


•  Ij  II  ■ 


PHARAOH. 


Egyptian  bronze  was  of  excellent  quality,  and  wrought 
into  a  great  variety  of  utensils  and  weapons,  although  the 
remains  of  Troy  reveal  it  in  the  scantiest  amounts.11  The 
knives  and  daggers  had  an  elastic  spring  like  steel,  which, 
according  to  Wilkinson,  they  retain  to  this  day.12  Silver 
wire  is  thirty-three  hundred  years  old,  and  gold  wire  six 
hundred  years  older.13  Iron  and  steel  seem  also  to  be  rep¬ 
resented  in  the  paintings.  Gold  was  used  for  gilding,  over¬ 
laying,  and  inlaying,  and  even  for  stopping  the  teeth,  as  is 
shown  in  some  of  the  Theban  mummies.14  Linen  thread 
was  made  fine  enough  to  contain  540  threads  in  an  inch  of 
warp,  although  but  110  in  an  inch  of  woof,15  and  entirely 
clear,  says  Wilkinson,  of  the  knots  and  breaks  that  can  be 
detected  on  holding  our  best  cambric  to  the  light.  They 
used  mordants  in  dyeing,16  veneered  with  glue,  and  painted 
with  colors,  although  wholly  ignorant  of  perspective.  The 
household  furniture,  as  delineated  in  the  paintings,  was 
much  of  it  tasteful,  and  some  of  it  elegant  —  sofas,  chairs,  • 
and  couches.  Vases  abounded  in  various  forms  and  all 
manner  of  materials  —  gold,  silver,  brass,  bronze,  ivory,  ala¬ 
baster,  porcelain,  bone,  as  well  as  glazed  pottery  or  earthen¬ 
ware.  Musical  instruments  were  abundant  and  diversi¬ 
fied — cymbals,  drums,  trumpets,  flutes,  pipes,  guitars,  harps, 
the  last  two  of  widely  different  shapes  and  sizes,  and  with 
strings  varying  from  four  to  twenty-two.  Those  in  the 
“Harper’s  Tomb”  were  very  like  a  modern  instrument  in 
shape. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  proofs  of  the  early  develop¬ 
ment  of  Egypt  is  its  art  of  sculpture.  And  here  it  is  a  sin¬ 
gular  fact  that  its  earliest  known  works  are  the  best.  The 


11  Schliemann’s  Troy  and  its  Remains,  p.  22. 

12  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  i.  148. 

14  lb.  ii.  145,  350.  16  lb.  ii.  80. 


13  lb.  ii.  82. 
16  lb.  ii.  83. 


74 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


wooden  statue  of  the  village  sheikh  is  a  striking  specimen. 
The  sitting  statue  of  King  Cephrenes  (Shafra)  has  also  at¬ 
tracted  no  little  admiration.  It  is  cut  from  the  hardest 
diorite.  The  king  sits  in  his  chair,  and  behind  him  stands 
a  hawk  with  outspread  wings.  The  arms  of  the  chair  ter¬ 
minate  in  lions’  heads,  and  on  its  sides  are  twined  the  lotus 
and  papyrus  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  One  of  the  mon¬ 
arch’s  hands  lies  open  on  his  thigh,  the  other  holds  a  papy¬ 
rus  roll;  and  the  mild,  firm  face  conveys  the  impression  of 
a  genuine  portrait. 

Ko  less  indicative  of  high  attainment  in  art  is  their 
proved  skill  in  metallurgy,  jewelry,  and  the  cutting  of  pre¬ 
cious  stones.  An  immense  number  of  articles  of  virtu 
from  Egypt  are  now  scattered  through  the  world — stones 
delicately  cut  and  engraved,  rings,  beads,  ear-rings,  neck¬ 
laces,  and  the  like.  It  was  only  in  1859  that  Mariette  Bey 
found  in  a  tomb  at  Thebes  the  superb  collection  of  jewelry 
that  belonged  to  Queen  Aah-Hotep,  much  older  than  the 
Exodus.  Ho  visitor  of  the  Boulak  Museum  has  failed  of 
seeing  it.  There  are  nearly  foity  different  objects,  elabo¬ 
rately,  and  some  of  them  elegantly,  wrought.  The  taste  is 
Egyptian,  but  the  workmanship  is  almost  modern.  Here  is 
a  gold  necklace  of  half  a  dozen  strands,  composed  of  lions, 
jackals,  stags,  hawks,  vultures,  winged  snakes,  flowers,  and 
other  objects ;  a  diadem,  of  which  the  central  part  is  a  royal 
signet  flanked  by  two  sphinxes ;  a  bracelet,  one  half  repre¬ 
senting  a  vulture  with  spread  wings,  the  play  of  the  feath¬ 
ers  imitated  by  lapis  lazuli,  cornelian,  and  green  glass  set 
in  gold,  and  the  other  half  formed  of  two  parallel  bands, 
adorned  with  turquoises  of  peculiar  design ;  a  gold  chain, 
almost  a  yard  long,  of  extreme  flexibility,  each  end  termi¬ 
nating  in  a  goose’s  head,  while  from  the  middle  hangs  a 
scarabseus  of  massive  gold,  of  which  the  claws  are  the  ex- 


PHARAOH. 


actest  imitation  of  the  living  creature,  and  are  soldered 
to  the  body,  and  the  corslet  and  wings  are  of  blue  paste 
streaked  with  gold ;  a  beautiful  dagger  and  case,  the  cir¬ 
cumference  of  the  blade  made  of  solid  gold,  and  the  inner 
part  of  some  hard,  dark  metal,  damaskeened  with  figures, 
among  them  a  lion  springing  upon  a  bull,  and  four  locusts, 
diminishing  in  size  with  the  taper  of  the  blade,  the  handle 
of  the  dagger  tesselated  with  triangles  of  gold,  lapis,  cor¬ 
nelian,  and  feldspath,  and  the  wooden  pommel  stamped  in 
gold  leaf  with  four  female  heads;  a  boat  of  gold,  having 
two  cabins,  twelve  silver  rowers,  and  three  personages  of 
gold  aboard;  three  or  four  other  bracelets,  various  necklaces, 
daggers,  chains,  and  ornaments  of  a  nondescript  character; 
all  constituting  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  ancient  art. 

The  Pharaohs  boasted  of  their  wide  conquests,  too.  Be¬ 
fore  the  first  great  pyramid  was  built,  King  Snefru  had  his 
miners  at  work  at  Wady  Maghara,  and  the  names  of  the 
Pharaohs  were  recorded  at  the  mines  of  Sarabit  el  Khadim 
after  the  Exodus.  The  twelfth  dynasty  conquered  Ethiopia 
and  brought  gold  from  Knbia.  For  a  time,  indeed,  South¬ 
ern  Egypt  was  wrested  from  them  by  Asiatic  invaders,  the 
shepherd  kings,  who  made  their  capital  at  San.17  But  they 
were  expelled  by  Aahmes,  or  Amosis,  the  founder  of  the 
eighteenth  dynasty  and  of  the  New  Empire,  and  the  ancient 
authority  of  the  Pharaohs  restored.18  Ilis  successor,  Thotli- 
mes  I.,  invaded  Syria  and  the  borders  of  Mesopotamia. 


17  They  form,  according  to  Manetho,  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth 
dynasties. 

18  The  divisions  of  the  empires  are  not  agreed  upon.  Thus,  Birch  carries  the 
New  Empire  only  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  dynasty,  Mariette  to  the  end  of  the 
tenth.  Both  make  the  Middle  Empire  end  with  the  seventeenth  dynasty.  Birch 
suggests  that  the  repetition  of  names  from  the  eleventh  into  the  eighteenth  dy¬ 
nasties  indicates  that  they  were  not  separated  by  any  great  interval  of  time. 
But  Mariette  admits  no  such  proximity. 


76 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Tliothmes  III.  passed  through  Gaza,  fortified  Megiddo, 
marched  along  the  Sea  of  Gahlee,  subdued  Northern  Syria, 
put  a  fleet  on  the  Euphrates,  and  conquered  Mesopotamia. 
He  records  his  tribute  as  coming  from  Ethiopia  on  the  south, 
Armenia  on  the  north,  India  on  the  east,  and  the  Archipela¬ 
go  on  the  west.  He  overran  North-western  Asia,  and  avers 
in  his  inscriptions  that  he  placed  his  boundaries  where  he 
pleased.  An  obelisk  of  his  now  stands  in  the  circus  of  Con¬ 
stantinople,  another  at  Home,  another  (“  Cleopatra’s  Needle”) 
at  Alexandria,  and  yet  another  in  London.  His  successors 
found  it  a  fresh  task  to  reconquer  the  rebellious  provinces. 

Among  the  more  remarkable  of  them  was  Seti  I.  (of  the 
nineteenth  dynasty),  whose  obelisk,  placed  by  himself  at 
Heliopolis,  now  stands  in  the  Piazza  del  Popolo  at  Home, 
and  his  alabaster  sarcophagus  lies  in  the  Sloane  Museum  at 
London.  His  sculptured  battle-scenes  in  the  great  temple 
of  Karnak  represent  him  as  invading  Canaan  (. Kanana ),  re¬ 
ceiving  homage  in  Armenia,  conquering  the  Syrians  (Ru- 
tennu ),  and  dragging  their  chiefs  at  his  chariot  wheels,  while 
the  Hittites  {Khita),  the  Ionians,  Mesopotamia,  Southern 
Arabia,  parts  of  Central  Asia,  and  tribes  of  Nubia  and 
Abyssinia,  are  among  his  captives. 

But  the  most  remarkable  of  all,  in  some  respects,  was  the 
reign  of  Seti’s  son,  Raineses  II.,  frequently  called  the  Pha¬ 
raoh  of  the  oppression.  Its  immense  length,  sixty-seven 
years,  gave  scope  for  broad  schemes  and  ambitious  achieve¬ 
ments.  Llis  history,  exaggerated  and  apparently  confused 
more  or  less  with  that  of  Tliothmes  III.,  Seti  I.,  and  Raine¬ 
ses  III.,  is  the  foundation  of  the  classic  story  of  the  great 
Sesostris,  a  name  formed  from  his  own  popular  appellation, 
Sestesura.19  As  Tliothmes  III.  was  the  great  warrior  mon- 

19  Birch’s  History,  p.  125.  Bunsen,  however,  inclines  to  refer  the  chief  facts 
to  Osirtasen  II.,  whom  he  thinks  the  Greeks  mistook  for  Rameses  II. 


PHARAOH. 


77 


arch,  Rameses  II.  was  the  great  builder.  He  erected  the 
two  splendid  temples  at  Aboo  Sirnbel,  the  Memnonium  (or 
Rameseum)  at  Thebes,  the  smaller  temple  of  Abydos,  a 
great  part  of  that  at  Luxor,  part  of  Karnak,  one  at  San, 
and  other  structures  at  Memphis  and  Fayooin.  Lie  com¬ 
pleted  the  great  wall  or  chain  of  fortresses  on  the  eastern 
.  border  of  Egypt,  from  Pelusiuin  to  Heliopolis,  which  mark¬ 
ed  the  incipient  decline  of  the  Egyptian  power,  and  along 
which  Pithom  and  Raineses  are  commonly  supposed  to  have 
lain.*0  An  obelisk  which  he  placed  at  Luxor  now  stands 
in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  at  Paris,  and  his  name  he  re¬ 
corded  on  rock  tablets  near  the  Nahr  el  Kelb,  in  Syria. 
He,  too,  claimed  warlike  glories,  the  chief  of  which  were 
won  in  conflict  with  the  Khita  of  Svria,  and  amonsc  his 
captures  he  records  “Slialuma,”  perhaps  Salem,  the  ancient 
Jerusalem.  He  was  a  great  boaster,  too.  In  one  of  his  bat¬ 
tles  with  the  Khita  he  was  surrounded  by  2500  chariots,  and 
was  all  alone,  but  fought  his  way  through.21  He  boastfully 
inscribed  his  name  everywhere.  Says  Mariette  Bey:  “It  is 
impossible,  so  to  speak,  to  find  a  ruin  in  Egypt,  or  an  ancient 
object,  without  reading  there  his  name.”  And  thus  it  often 
obtrudes  itself  as  impertinently  on  the  monuments  as  the 
Pope’s  name  on  the  buildings  at  Rome.  In  his  days,  as  well 
as  those  of  Thothmes  III.,  the  Aperu  (supposed  by  many  to 
be  the  Hebrews)  are  mentioned  as  in  a  state  of  servitude, 
and  the  subsequent  history  of  Egypt  shows  them,  or  a  por¬ 
tion  of  them,  still  there.  He  had  the  enormous  number  of 

a  hundred  and  seventv  children  22  and  the  thirteenth  of  his 

*/ 

fifty-nine  sons,  Menephta,  was  his  successor  on  the  throne. 


20  Birch’s  History,  p.  131. 

21  lb.  127.  Mariette,  Apeiyu,  p.  64.  It  is  in  the  poem  of  the  Pentaur  on  the 
walls  of  Karnak. 

22  Lenormant,  Histoire,  i.  423.  Mariette,  Apeiyu,  p.  60. 


78 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Here  naturally  opens  before  us  the  question  concerning 
the  time  of  the  oppression  and  the  Exodus,  and,  incidentally, 
concerning  the  dates  of  Egyptian  history.  The  subject  is 
perplexed  and  difficult.  Brugsch  Bey  writes,  in  1875,  that 
“  the  difficulties  of  determining  precisely  the  epochs  of 
Egyptian  history,  instead  of  diminishing,  increase  from  day 
to  day,  and  new  questions  to  resolve  mingle  in  the  chrono¬ 
logical  discussions.”23  This  statement  might  not  be  accept¬ 
ed  by  all  Egyptologists.  But  the  difficulty  would  seem  to 
prove  itself  by  the  vast  diversity  of  results.  Thus,  the  era 
of  Menes,  founder  of  the  first  dynasty,  is  placed  by  Boeckh 
5702  b.c.,  by  Unger  5613,  by  Mariette  Bey  5004,  by  Brugsch 
4455,  by  Lepsius  3892,  by  Bunsen  3623,  by  Birch  “about 
3000.”  Here  is  the  enormous  difference  of  2700  years  in 
computation.  It  is,  to  use  Brugsch’s  own  comparison,  slight¬ 
ly  modified,  as  if  scholars  five  or  six  thousand  years  hence 
should  discuss  the  time  when  Julius  C£esar  came  to  the 
throne,  some  claiming’ that  it  took  place  824  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  others  placing  it  in  the  year  1S76  after  Christ. 

The  first  positive  coincidence  between  Egyptian  and  Bib¬ 
lical  dates  is  that  of  the  reigns  of  Solomon  in  Palestine 
with  that  of  Shishak  (Sheslionk)  in  Egypt,  as  mentioned  in 
1  Kind's  xi.  40.  This  was  not  far  from  980  b.c.  The  es- 

o 

timates  of  the  earlier  chronology  of  Egypt  have  hitherto 
hinged  chiefly  on  the  statements  of  one  writer,  of  whom  we 
possess  only  a  few  fragments,  preserved  in  somewhat  incon¬ 
sistent  forms.  I  refer  to  the  Egyptian  priest  Manetho,  who 
lived  in  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (b.c.  285-247), 
and  who,  at  the  command  of  his  monarch,  wrote  in  Greek 
a  history  of  his  country  from  the  records  and  monuments. 
Unfortunately  his  “three  books  of  Egyptian  history”  are 


23  Histoire  d’Egypte,  second  edition,  p.  27. 


PHARAOH. 


79 


lost.  Josephus,  who  lived  two  and  a  half  centuries  later, 
has  given  us  the  amount  of  some  ten  octavo  pages,  ostensi¬ 
bly  a  translation  of  his  statements.  Julius  Africanus  and 
Eusebius,  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  after  Christ,  re¬ 
spectively,  preserved  the  list  of  dynasties  which  was  append¬ 
ed  to  his  history.  A  third  form  of  this  list  is  furnished  by 
Syncellus,  Yice- Patriarch  of  Constantinople  (about  the  year 
800),  who  is  understood  to  compile  from  Africanus  and  Eu¬ 
sebius,  following  chiefly  the  latter,  and  at  the  same  time 
severely  criticising  his  treatment  of  Manetho’s  list. 

Here  is  room  for  various  and  abundant  errors,  obvious¬ 
ly,  first,  in  the  transmission — a  fact  which  is  well  exhibited 

J  j  j 

in  the  conflict  of  the  several  reports.  Brngsch  remarks  of 
Manetho:  “  Little  known  to  the  classic  authors,  his  work  has 
been  quoted  in  extracts  by  ecclesiastical  writers;  and  later 
copyists,  whether  from  error  or  intention,  have  changed  the 
names  and  the  figures,  till  we  possess  but  the  debris  of  Ma¬ 
netho’s  royal  list.”24  As  to  the  character  of  the  writer  him¬ 
self,  opinions  differ.  Though  greatly  disparaged  by  some, 
the  present  and  increasing  tendency  is  to  speak  of  him  with 
respect;  if  not  as  “a  distinguished  historian,  sage,  and  schol¬ 
ar,”25  yet  as  an  “earnest,  intelligent,  truth -seeking  man,”26 
“  a  faithful  guide  ;”27  in  regard  to  whom  “  the  veracity  of 
the  original  and  the  authenticity  of  his  sources  is  proved 
by  the  decipherment  of  the  hieroglyphics.”28  Bunsen,  how¬ 
ever,  admits  that,  besides  using  the  old  sacred  books  and 
royal  lists,  he  must  have  had  access  to  annals  combining 
“popular  legends  and  unauthenticated  traditions”  with 
“more  strictly  historical  matters,”  although  he  seems  in 
some  instances  to  distinguish  the  two.29  But  as  the  result 

24  Histoire  d’Egypte,  second  edition,  p.  25.  25  Bunsen,  Egypt’s  Place,  i.  57 

26  Lepsius,  Chronologie,  p.  407.  27  Mariette,  Apergu,  p.  14. 

28  Brugsch,  Histoire,  p.  25.  29  Egypt’s  Place,  i.  98. 


so 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


of  all  investigation  and  comparison  with  the  monuments, 
Brugsch  in  his  latest  utterance  declares  that, “in  spite  of  all 
these  discoveries,  the  figures  are  still  in  a  deplorable  state.”30 
To  a  considerable  extent  the  lists  of  Manetho,  as  already 
indicated,  have  been  checked  and  confirmed  by  various  par¬ 
tial  lists  found  on  the  monuments,  which,  while  they  have 
served  to  raise  his  credit,  are  also  materially  supplemented 
and  interpreted  by  the  guidance  of  his  connected  whole. 
These  lists,  however,  furnish  few  indications  of  time,  and 
are  both  incomplete  and  often  confused.  Among  them  is 
the  celebrated  Turin  papyrus,  drawn  up  in  the  time  of  Ra¬ 
ineses  II.,  intended  as  an  enumeration  of  the  kings  from 
mythological  times,  but  now  existing  in  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four  small  paper  fragments.  The  chamber  of  the  an¬ 
cestors  at  Karnak  is  but  a  selection  of  sixty-one  kings  by 
Thothmes  III.,  and  is  badly  mutilated.  A  third  of  these 
lists  is  found  on  the  Table  of  Abydos,  where  Raineses  II. 
does  homage  to  fifty  of  his  ancestors  (only  thirty  remaining 
complete).  But  this  again  is  a  selection,  the  principle  of 
which  is  unknown,  and  the  transitions  inexplicable.  A 
fourth  is  the  table  recently  found  by  Mariette  Bey  at  Sak- 
karah,  in  the  tomb  of  a  priest  of  the  same  reign.  This  also 
contains  but  fiftv-eight  monarchs,  selected  on  some  unknown 
principle,  but  fortunately  comprising  the  first  six  dynasties 
almost  as  complete  as  in  Manetho.  These  four  are  at  pres¬ 
ent  the  chief  monumental  aids  for  recovering  the  long  series 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Of  themselves  they  would  not  go  far. 
But  important  information  has  been  derived  from  them. 

But  besides  all  other  sources  of  error,  there  comes  at 
once  to  the  surface  the  fundamental  and  much  -  disputed 
question,  whether  and  how  far  both  the  dynasties  and  the 


30  Ilistoire  d’Egypte,  p.  25,  second  edition,  a.d.  1875. 


FHAIiAOH. 


81 


reigns  were  successive,  or  partly  contemporaneous.  In  ear¬ 
lier  times  tlie  inclination  prevailed  somewhat  strongly  to 
regard  these  reigns  as  all  successive,  and  hence  to  ascribe  a 
marvellous  antiquity  to  the  Pharaohs.  This  was  character¬ 
istic  of  the  school  of  Champollion,  and  is  still  the  method 
of  Mariette  Bey,  whose  principle  is  to  “admit  no  contempo¬ 
raneous  dynasties.”31  But  it  would  seem  that  the  plainest 
proof  of  the  real  state  of  the  case  is  found  in  the  fact  that, 
while  the  sum  total  of  the  reigns,  as  given  by  Manetho, 
amounts  to  5462  years,  his  own  statement  at  the  end  gives 
but  a  period  of  3555  years.32  Eminent  scholars  have  been 
compelled  more  and  more  to  see  the  necessity,  not  only  of 
regarding  whole  reigns  and  even  dynasties  as  contempora¬ 
neous,  but  of  recognizing  many  cases  of  associated  reigning. 
Thus  Brugsch  in  his  latest  work  asserts  that  “  the  minute 
researches  to  which  scholars  have  subjected  the  succession 
of  the  Pharaohs,  and  the  chronological  order  of  the  dynas¬ 
ties,  demonstrates  the  necessity  of  supposing,  in  Manetho’s 
list,  contemporaneous  and  collateral  dynasties,  and  so  dimin¬ 
ishing  the  sum  total.”33  Twenty  years  ago  Bunsen  emphat¬ 
ically  declared  that  u  the  Egyptian  priests  did  not  possess  a 
continuous  chronology  in  their  history,  but  only  a  sum  total 
of  regnal  years.”  He  sets  forth  u  the  probability  that  the 
Egyptians,  who  seem  to  have  taken  especial  pride  in  a  long 
array  of  royal  names,  introduced  into  their  lists  those  of 
each  individual  prince,  who,  if  a  co-regent  even,  and  that 
for  a  short  time,  bore  in  his  family  the  title  of  Pharaoh. 
The  lists  necessarilv  annexed  to  each  of  such  regents  the 
full  number  of  his  regnal  years.  Supposing,  therefore,  that 
several  reigned  co-ordinately  —  two  brothers,  for  instance, 

31  Itineraire  de  la  Haute-Egypte,  p.  43. 

32  Smith’s  Student’s  Ancient  History  of  the  East,  p.  58,  American  edition. 

33  Histoire,  second  edition,  p.  25.  See  also  p.  28. 

6 


82 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


or  a  father  and  liis  son  —  and  all  the  members  to  have  been 
added  together,  the  names  as  well  as  the  years  might  easily 
have  been  doubled,  or  more  than  doubled,  in  any  given  pe¬ 
riod  ;  for  instance,  one  of  sixty  years,  with  their  co-regents, 
might  swell  into  a  hundred  and  fifty.  By  such  a  mode 
the  chronology  was  necessarily  thrown  into  confusion.  This 
confusion  arose  also  from  the  circumstance  of  all  the  dy¬ 
nasties  of  the  Old  and  Middle  Empires  being  registered  in 
the  succession  in  which  they  ranked  as  Pharaonic  races  in 
any  part  of  ancient  Egypt.  In  the  New  Empire  there 
were  no  contemporaneous  dynasties,  because  during  it 
Egypt  always  formed  one  undivided  realm.”  But,  he  adds, 
‘4  Egypt  was  incorporated  into  one  empire  by  the  union  of 
more  than  twenty  different  provinces,  and  the  very  names 
of  the  country,  4  the  two  Egypts,’  4  the  Upper  and  Lower 
Country,’  show  that  the  idea  of  a  double  State  never  was 
lost  sight  of.  The  monuments  themselves  show  that  the 
Old  Empire  was  more  than  once  divided.  As  regards  the 
Middle  Empire,  it  would  betray  utter  heedlessness  or  total 
scepticism  and  misunderstanding  of  Manetho’s  lists,  did  we 
not  admit  that  the  Hyksos  [Shepherd]  d}Tnasties  were  con¬ 
temporaneous  with  Egyptian  princes,  or  some  of  the  latter 
even  with  each  other.”34  Similar  statements  are  repeatedly 
made  by  him  in  detail. 

The  difficulties  that  environ  the  subject  are  well  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  fact  of  what  Birch  calls  44  a  monumental 
gap,”35  and  Mariette  44  a  monumental  void”30  from  the  sixth 
to  the  eleventh  dynasties,  and  another  from  the  twelfth  to 
the  eighteenth.37  Mariette  is  obliged  to  recognize  the  sev¬ 
enteenth  as  a  double  dynasty,  shepherd  kings  reigning  at 
San,  and  Egyptian  monarchs  at  Thebes;  and  he  is  in  doubt 

34  Egypt’s  Place,  ii.  4,  5. 

3(5  Aper9u,  p.  144. 


35  History,  p.  58. 

37  Birch’s  History,  p.  76. 


PHARAOH. 


83 


whether  to  place  numerous  kings  in  the  fourteenth,  or  in  the 
void  between  the  sixth  and  the  eleventh.38  Birch  reckons 
the  seventh  and  eighth  Memphite  dynasties  as  contempora¬ 
neous  with  the  ninth  and  tenth  Ileraeleopolite.39  Brugsch, 
in  his  latest  work,  mentions  that  the  Egyptians  ascribed  to 
each  Pharaoh  the  sum  total  of  his  regnal  years,  without 
making  any  reductions  for  simultaneous  reigns,  and  affirms 
that  only  from  the  twenty-sixth  dynasty  is  the  chronology 
founded  on  exact  dates.40  He  reckons  the  thirteenth  and 
seventeenth  dynasties  as  collateral  with  the  fourteenth,  fif¬ 
teenth,  and  sixteenth.41  He  speaks  of  the  fact,  noticed  by 
Manetlio,  that  the  names  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  dynas¬ 
ties  are  found  equally  on  the  monuments  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth,  that  the  character  of  the  coffins,  orna¬ 
ments,  and  style  is  identical,  and  that,  moreover,  in  Manetlio 
the  twelfth  and  eighteenth  dynasties  succeed  each  other 
without  interval.42  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  takes  the  same 
ground,  and  cites,  with  seeming  approval,  an  arrangement 
of  contemporaneous  dynasties,  suggested  by  Mr.  Lane  and 
adopted  by  Mr.  Poole,  thus : 


I.  Thinites. 

II. 

III.  Memphites. 

IV. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

Elephantines. 


Diospolites. 

IX.  Heracleopolites. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XIV.  Xoites. 


XV. 

XVI.  Shepherds. 


XVII.  Shepherds. 


38  Apercu,  pp.  152, 153.  39  History,  p.  59. 

40  Histoire  d’Egypte,  second  edition,  pp.  84,  25.  41  lb.  p.  25. 

42  lb.  p.  113.  Birch  calls  attention  to  the  identity  of  the  names. 


84 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


These  facts  will  exhibit  the  great  uncertainty  attending, 
as  yet,  the  whole  discussion,  the  great  diversity  of  opinion, 
and  the  folly  of  speaking  positively  on  this  subject  in  our 
present  state  of  knowledge.  The  attempts  that  have  been 
made  (e.  g .,  by  Mr.  Horner)  to  determine  the  time  during 
which  Egypt  has  been  occupied  from  the  rate  of  deposits  in 
the  Nile  valley,  and  the  depth  at  which  certain  objects  have 
been  discovered,  have  been  shown  by  scientific  men  to  be 
unsatisfactory,  because  of  the  uncertain  and  variable  amount 
of  deposit.  Fraas,  who  devotes  some  space  to  its  refutation, 
declares  it  to  be  time  that  “this  hundred-times-repeated 
nonsense  of  the  geological  books  should  be  once  for  all  dis- 
carded,  and  no  longer  offered  as  an  argument  before  the 
eyes  of  science,  when  at  most  it  is  fitted  to  entrap  a  cred¬ 
ulous  laity.”43  These  facts  make  it  evident  that  Egyptol¬ 
ogers  must  each  advance  his  own  solution  with  modesty. 

Not  only  has  there  been  this  diversity  in  the  estimate  of 
the  duration  of  the  empire,  but  an  equal  difficulty  in  fixing 
the  date  of  any  part  of  its  earlier  history.  Within  the  last 
few  years  several  prominent  writers  have  placed  much  reli- 


43  Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  pp.  212,  213.  Lane’s  editor  also  mentions  (Modern 
Egyptians,  fifth  edition,  ii.  p.  355)  that  some  of  these  deepest  borings  have 
brought  up  burnt  bricks,  which,  he  maintains,  belong  only  to  Roman  times.  So 
says  Wilkinson  (ii.  194),  but  the  collection  of  the  British  Museum  contains  burnt 
Egyptian  bricks,  one  of  the  eighteenth  and  another  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty. 
(Lyell,  Antiquity  of  Man,  p.  3V).  While,  therefore,  this  circumstance  of  itself 
may  not  be  conclusive  counter-evidence,  yet,  for  the  other  reasons  indicated, 
Mr.  Lyell  regards  the  argument  drawn  from  the  deposits  as  “  founded  on  insuf¬ 
ficient  data and  even  Sir  John  Lubbock  finds  himself  “  prevented  from  accept¬ 
ing  unreservedly  the  conclusions  of  Mr.  Horner  ”  (Pre-historic  Times,  p.  397).  In¬ 
deed,  it  is  averred  (Recent  Origin  of  Man,  J.  C.  Southall,  1875,  p.  474)  that  “Sir 
Robert  Stephenson  found  in  the  Delta  near  Damietta,  at  a  greater  depth  than 
was  ever  reached  by  Mr.  Horner,  a  brick  bearing  the  stamp  of  Mohammed  Ali ; 
also,  that  “  in  the  deepest  boring  at  the  foot  of  the  statue  of  Rameses  II.  [at 
Thebes]  there  was  found  the  Grecian  honeysuckle  stamped  on  some  of  the  sup¬ 
posed  palaeolithic  fragments.”  The  authorities  are  there  cited. 


PHARAOH. 


85 


ance  upon  a  supposed  fixing  of  the  date  of  the  Sothic  cycle, 
or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  Canicular  period. 

The  Sothic  cycle  is  the  period  of  1460  years,  during  which 
the  rising  of  the  Sothis,  or  dog-star,  passed  through  every  por¬ 
tion  of  the  Egyptian  year,  and  returned  to  the  20tli  of  July. 
The  common  Egyptian  year  consisted  of  only  365  days,  omit¬ 
ting  the  additional  hours.  Consequently,  though  in  a  cer¬ 
tain  year  Sothis,  or  Sirius,  rose  with  the  sun  on  a  given  day 
in  July  (called  the  heliacal  rising),  this  coincidence  ceased, 
and  did  not  recur  again  on  the  same  day  till  the  annual  di¬ 
vergence  of  six  hours  became  an  entire  year — that  is,  in 
1460  years.  After  the  lapse  of  this  time  the  Egyptian  new 
year,  which  began  in  July,  was  marked  once  more  (on  the 
20th  day)  by  the  simultaneous  rising  of  Sirius  and  the  sun. 
This  long  interval  was  the  Sothic  cycle.  Certain  hints 
in  the  classic  writers  (Tacitus,  Herodotus,  and  Strabo)  are 
understood  to  refer  to  this  cycle.  Express  statements 
concerning  it  are  found  in  certain  more  obscure  authors. 
Thus,  Vettius  Valens,  of  the  age  of  the  Antonines,  says  that 
the  Egyptians  had  a  civil  and  a  natural  year,  the  latter  com¬ 
mencing  at  the  heliacal  rising  ( IttltoX ?/)  of  the  dog-star. 
Porphyry,  and  a  scholiast  on  Aratus,  also  mention  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  year  as  commencing  with  the  rising  of  Sirius.  The  tes¬ 
timony  of  Horapollo  is  understood  as  indicating  the  length 
of  this  year.44  Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  his  Stromata,  in 
the  second  century,  speaks  of  this  Sothic  period,  and  even 
reckons  the  date  of  the  Exodus  from  it.45 

How,  in  the  year  a.d.  238,  the  Latin  writer  Censorinus 
states  that  an  Egyptian  Great  or  Sothic  year — so  called,  he 


44  These  quotations  are  given  by  Bunsen,  iii.  53,  and  by  Lepsius,  Chronologie, 
p.  164,  seq. 

45  Stromata,  i.  chap.  20 :  “  Moses  going  forth  345  years  before  the  Sothic 
period.” 


86 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


says,  because  on  the  first  day  of  it  Sotliis  rises  heliacally  (as 
he  is  understood) — commenced  in  the  hundredth  year  before 
his  time.  Reckoning  backward  1461  Egyptian  years  from 
a.d.  138,  or  exactly  from  a.d.  139,  would  bring  us  to  b.c. 
1322,  as  the  beginning  of  the  previous  Sotliic  year.  With 
this  now  is  combined  a  statement  made  in  the  fourth  cen¬ 
tury  by  Theon,  an  Alexandrian  mathematician,  found  in  an 
unpublished  manuscript  at  Paris,  reading  thus:  “If  we 
compute  the  years  from  Menophres  to  the  end  of  the  Au¬ 
gustan  era,  we  get  a  sum  total  of  1605  years.  If  we  add  to 
these  the  one  hundred  years  which  had  elapsed  since  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  Diocletian  era,  we  get  1705  years.”46  Row, 
as  the  era  of  Augustus  ended  a.d.  283,  the  year  of  Menoph¬ 
res,  which  is  1605  years  previous,  would  bring  us  to  this 
point,  1322  b.c.,  the  beginning  of  the  Sothic  year.47  But 
Bunsen,  Lepsius,  and  others  claim  that  Menophres  is  a  mis¬ 
spelling  or  an  equivalent  for  Menophtlies,  or  Menophtha ; 
that  is,  Menephta,  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty,  son  and  succes¬ 
sor  of  Rameses  II.  And  since  they  and  many  modern  writ¬ 
ers,  for  reasons  presently  to  be  mentioned,  regard  him  as  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  the  date  of  that  event  is  supposed 
by  them  to  be  very  definitely  determined.  Bunsen  assigns 
it  to  the  year  1320  b.c.,  and  Lepsius  to  the  year  1314  b.c.; 
and  Ebers  remarks  concerning  the  latter  date,  that  it  will 
stand  fast  in  spite  of  the  attempts  of  Lauth,  Reinisch,  Unger, 
Lieblein,  and  Ilitzig  to  reopen  the  discussion.48 

Notwithstanding  the  confidence  with  which  these  writers 
speak  of  the  subject,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  proof  of 

46  Egypt’s  Place,  iii.  43,  73. 

47  Lepsius  (Chronologie,  170)  endeavors  to  confirm  this  time  by  a  passage 
from  Pliny  (H.  N.  x.  2),  in  which,  however,  he  is  obliged  to  assume  a  change  of 
reading  from  “  two  hundred  and  fifteen  ”  to  twelve  hundred  and  fifteen,  by  sup¬ 
posing  an  M  to  have  been  lost  from  the  text. 

48  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  525. 


PHARAOH. 


87 


the  alleged  date,  of  which  I  have  given  a  summary  state¬ 
ment,49  might  be  much  more  satisfactory7.  Brugsch,  who  is 
sufficiently  theoretical  in  his  own  line,  yet  in  the  last  edi¬ 
tion  of  his  History  writes  thus  :  “  Many  scholars  think  they 
have  discovered  another  expedient  for  fixing  several  Egyp¬ 
tian  dates,  b}7  making  use  of  astronomical  calculation.  The 
reign  of  a  King  Menophres,  under  whom,  according  to  an 
ancient  tradition,  a  new  Sothic  period  commenced  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  rising  of  the  star  Sirius,  the  Sothis  of  the 
Egyptians,  mentioned  under  three  kings  of  the  name  of 
Raineses  on  contemporaneous  monuments  of  their  epoch, 
and,  in  fine,  some  other  indications  of  astronomical  charac¬ 
ter,  have  given  rise  to  certain  very  complicated  calcula¬ 
tions  of  whose  historic  value  criticism  has  not  said  her  last 
word.”50  It  may  be  added  that  other  claimants  have  been 
put  forward  for  this  name  Menophres.51  A  late  writer,  Mr. 
W.  B.  Galloway,  vigorously  maintains  that  the  assignment 
of  the  beginning  of  the  Sothic  period  to  the  year  b.c.  1322 
is  founded  on  a  total  misapprehension,  and  endeavors  to 
show,  by  elaborate  calculations  and  combinations,  that  it 
really  began  in  the  year  16S5  b.c.52 


49  There  are,  of  course,  many  collateral  and  remoter  indications  advanced, 
especially  by  Lepsius,  of  which,  however,  it  is  difficult  for  the  Anglo-Saxon 
mind  to  feel  the  force.  I  have  endeavored  to  give  above  the  substance  of  the 
direct  argument. 

50  Brugsch,  Histoire,  p.  27,  second  edition. 

51  Perhaps  the  view  of  Champollion  and  his  brother,  identifying  “  Menoph¬ 
res”  with  Amunoph  IV.,  may  be  considered  obsolete  by  reason  of  later  re¬ 
searches.  But  Ernst  de  Bunsen  (The  Chronology  of  the  Bible,  London,  1874) 
strenuously  resists  the  identification  with  Menephta,  and  advocates  that  of  Dr. 
Hincks,  to  the  effect  that  Menophres  corresponds  completely  to  the  first  name 
of  Rameses  I.,  namely,  Men-peh-ra ,  of  which  the  value  of  the  second  sign  or 
syllable  was  ascertained  after  the  publication  of  Lepsius’s  results.  But  I  ob¬ 
serve  that  the  Chevalier  Bunsen  gives  the  same  name  (iii.  544),  with  only  a 
transposition,  thus,  Ra-men-peh. 

52  Egypt’s  Record  of  Time.  By  W.  B.  Galloway..  London,  1869. 


88 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  Christian  fathers,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Julius  Af- 
ricanus,  and  others,  supposed  the  Exodus  to  have  taken 
place  under  some  king  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty — a  view 
which  has  of  late  been  ably  defended  again.  Tims  Canon 
Cook53  assigns  the  Exodus  specifically  to  the  last  year  of 
Thothmes  II.,  at  a  supposed  date  of  b.c.  1617.  This  opin¬ 
ion  would  have  whatever  support  can  be  derived  from  a 
statement  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  who  affirms  that  “  Mo¬ 
ses  went  out  of  Egypt  three  hundred  and  forty-five  years 
before  the  Sothic  period,”  that  is,  as  Lepsius  reckons  it, 
1667  b.c.  But  it  would,  from  the  Scripture  narratives, 
seem  hardly  credible  that  the  Israelites  could  have  been  in 
Palestine  during  the  warlike  expeditions  of  Thothmes  III. 
to  that  country,  or  even  during  the  times  of  Seti  I.  or  Ba¬ 
ineses  II. ;  the  former  of  whom  built  fortresses  in  Canaan,54 
and  the  latter  of  whom  invaded  Northern  Syria,  and  in  the 
eighth  year  of  his  reign  took  “  Shaluma,”  probably  Jerusa¬ 
lem  itself.55  And  while  other  tribes  of  Palestine  are  men¬ 
tioned  l)y  name,  his  records  contain  no  allusion  to  the  Is¬ 
raelites  as  being  there.  Wilkinson,  who  once  favored  this 
view,  which  placed  the  Exodus  in  the  eighteenth  dynasty, 
changed  his  opinion,  and  held  it  to  be  later  than  the  reign 
of  Bameses  II.  of  the  nineteenth.56  Sharpe  and  Mr.  William 
Palmer  regard  Amunoph  II.,  successor  of  Thothmes  IIP, 
as  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus.57  Poole  thinks  both  the  op¬ 
pression  and  the  Exodus  took  place  before  the  eighteenth 
dynasty,  dismissing  Manetho’s  story  of  the  Exodus  with  the 


53  Speaker’s  Commentary,  i.  455,  seq.  54  Birch,  History,  p.  122. 

55  II).  p.  128  .  56  Rawlinson’s  Herodotus,  ii.  287. 

57  Sharpe’s  History  of  Egypt,  i.  52.  Palmer’s  Egyptian  Chronicles,  i.  211, 
etc.  Mr.  Palmer  reconstructs  the  chronology  chiefly  from  Syncellus,  with  the 
aid  largely  of  Josephus  and  the  Septuagint.  He  assigns  the  Exodus  to  the 
year  b.c.  1654,  but  recognizes  the  year  b.c.  1622  as  the  beginning  of  a  Sothic 
cycle. 


PHARAOH. 


89 


remark  that  it  is,  “  on  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  who  has 
preserved  it  to  us,  wholly  devoid  of  authority,”  and  disposing 
of  the  difficulty  growing  out  of  the  presence  of  Thothmes 
III.  in  Syria,  by  suggesting  “  the  absence  of  any  positive 
Palestinean  names,  except  that  of  the  Philistines,”  in  these 
earlier  lists.58 

The  prevalent  continental  opinion  at  the  present  is,  that 
Rameses  II.,  in  his  long  and  constructive  reign,  was  pre¬ 
eminently  the  monarch  of  the  oppression,  which  had  begun 
under  his  predecessors,  and  that  his  son  Menephta  was  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus.  This  opinion  is  advanced,  with 
different  degrees  of  confidence,  by  such  writers  as  Pepsins, 
De  Rouge,  Lenormant,  Bunsen,  Mariette,  Brngsch,  Birch, 
Ebers,  and  many  others. 

These  writers  assign  the  elevation  of  Joseph  and  the  mi¬ 
gration  of  Jacob  to  the  time  of  the  shepherd  kings.69  In 
addition  to  certain  other  considerations,  such  as  the  eleva¬ 
tion  of  a  foreigner  being  more  consonant  with  the  ascen- 

* 

dency  of  a  foreign  dynasty  (Asiatic  too),  the  non-recognition 
of  Joseph’s  countrymen  by  a  new  king  or  dynasty,  the  mar¬ 
riage  of  Joseph  to  a  daughter  of  the  high-priest  of  On,  a 
city  occupied  by  the  shepherd  kings,  it  is  considered  an  im¬ 
portant  fact,  that  a  monument  discovered  at  San  by  Mari¬ 
ette  Bey,  which  was  erected  by  Rameses  II.,  is  dated  “  the 
four  hundredth  year  from  the  reign  of  Set,”  or  Saitis,  one 
of  the  shepherd  kings.60  This  would  correspond  very  close- 


58  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  i.  449,  684. 

59  Brugsch,  Histoire,  p.  1*74  (second  edition);  Mariette,  Apei^u,  p.  41 ;  Birch, 
History,  p.  78. 

60  So  given  by  Birch  and  Mariette.  The  latter  renders  it  “  l’an  400  du  roi 
Sd-aa-pehti  NoubtiP  Brugsch  calls  him  King  Nub.  Chabas  (Zeitschrift  fur 
Aeg.  Spr.,  May,  1865)  understands  a  double  name  of  the  same  person,  Sd-aa- 
pehti  and  Nubti.  The  whole  hieroglyphic  text,  with  a  translation,  is  given  in 
Birch’s  Selected  Egyptian  Texts,  iv.  35,  and  Egypt’s  Place,  v.  734,  735. 


90 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ly  to  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  of  the  residence 
in  Egypt,  if  we  assume  the  Exodus  to  have  taken  place  un¬ 
der  the  successor  of  this  Raineses.  Some  of  these  writ¬ 
ers  (Birch,  Lenormant,  Brugsch61)  favor  the  view  that  the 
monarch  of  Joseph’s  time  was  Apepi  II.  (Apappos). 

Various  circumstances  are  thought  to  concur  in  showing 
that  Baineses  was  the  oppressor,  and  his  son  the  weak  and 
vanquished  pursuer  of  the  Israelites.  Ilis  enormous  build¬ 
ing  operations,  wherein  he  far  outstripped  all  other  Egyp¬ 
tian  kings,  and  probably  exhausted  his  empire,  and  his  great 
canal,  correspond  well  to  the  Scripture  account  of  an  op¬ 
pressor  who  wore  out  the  lives  of  the  Israelites  “  with  hard 
bondage  in  brick  and  mortar,  and  in  all  manner  of  service 
in  the  Held.”  One  of  the  inscriptions  in  his  temple  at  Ip- 
sambul  informs  us  that  “  he  brought  with  him  out  of  all 
countries  builders,  as  slaves  of  his  supremacy  over  all  lands, 
and  erected  houses  of  the  ^ods  with  the  sons  of  Rutennu.”62 
And  another  inscription  of  his  mentions  the  Aperu  as  in  a 
condition  of  servitude,  quarrying  and  transplanting  stone 
for  the  great  fortress  of  Paramessu.63  The  name  of  one 
of  his  fortresses,  Rameses,  corresponds  to  the  ambitious 
spirit  of  a  monarch  who  spread  his  name  over  all  Egypt, 
and  who  was  the  first  that  made  that  name  specialty  con¬ 
spicuous  in  this  mode.  The  great  wall  or  chain  of  fort¬ 
resses  built  by  him,  among  which  were  Rameses  and  Pi- 
thom,  as  a  defence  from  eastern  enemies,  corresponds  well 
with  the  apprehensions  of  foreign  foes  expressed  in  Exod. 

61  Brugsch  (Histoire,  second  edition,  p.  175)  speaks  of  this  view  as  a  tradition 
from  Syncellus,  “adopted  by  all  the  world.”  Lenormant  (Histoire,  i.  151)  ac¬ 
cepts  it.  Still,  Bunsen  and  Lepsius  hold  theories  that  do  not  permit  them  to 
adopt  it.  The  Speaker’s  Commentary  rejects  it,  and  places  the  time  of  Joseph 
in  the  twelfth  dynasty,  under  Amenemha  III. ;  Bunsen,  under  Osirtasen  I.,  of 
the  same  dynasty. 

62  Egypt’s  Place,  iii.  176. 


63  Birch’s  History,  p.  134. 


PHARAOH. 


91 


i.  8-10,  and  with  a  time  of  receding  power.  The  remark 
of  Lepsius  is  also  in  point,  that  the  only  explanation  of  the 
journey  of  the  Israelites  is  found  in  the  construction  of  the 
canal  to  the  Red  Sea,  by  means  of  which  the  Israelites  were 
provided  with  water  for  both  man  and  beast,  and  this  canal 
would  seem  to  have  been  constructed  by  Rameses  II.64 
Moreover,  while  the  monarch’s  oppression  would  furnish  the 
natural  promptings  to  revolt  and  flight,  the  accession  of  a 
weak  successor  would  have  offered  the  fitting  opportunity. 

Accordingly,  various  indications  are  thought  to  point  to 
the  time  of  his  son  Menephta  as  the  period  of  the  Exodus. 
First  may  be  placed  the  account  quoted  by  Josephus  from 
Manetho,  the  substance  of  which,  abridged  and  cleared  of 
many  impossible  or  improbable  details  (which  vouch  for  its 
independent  origin),  is  this  :  After  the  reign  of  the  great 
Rameses,  King  Amenophis  was  overcome  by  a  vast  body  of 
lepers  who  had  been  severely  oppressed,  and  who  were  led 
by  a  priest  of  Heliopolis,  Osarsiph  by  name,  afterward  called 
Moses.  These  lepers  were  pledged  to  obey  their  leader  in 
everything,  were  commanded  to  worship  no  gods,  to  pay  no 
regard  to  the  distinction  of  the  sacred  animals  of  Egypt, 
and  to  hold  fellowship  with  no  man  who  did  not  belong  to 
them,  and  to  live  in  a  general  conflict  with  the  customs  of 
Egypt.  Their  victory  over  Amenophis  was  in  accordance 
with  a  prophecy,  on  account  of  which  he  had  lost  all  spirit. 
They  were  aided  by  shepherd  allies  from  Jerusalem,  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred  thousand,  and  Amenophis  was  so 
intimidated  that  with  his  own  army  of  three  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  he  did  not  venture  to  attack  them,  but  taking  his  gods 
and  his  son  Sethos,  he  fled  to  Ethiopia.  After  thirteen 
years,  he  returned  with  a  powerful  army,  subdued  the  lep- 


64  This  point  will  be  considered  more  fully  in  another  chapter. 


92 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ers  and  tlie  shepherds,  and  drove  them  as  far  as  the  frontier 
of  Syria.  In  another  briefer  statement  concerning  the  con¬ 
quest  of  the  shepherds,  they  are  said  to  have  been  driven 
out,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
through  the  wilderness  of  Syria.65  Now  these  statements 
are  confused,  and  blended  with  many  other  details.  But  we 
cannot  fail  to  notice  many  circumstances  of  correspondence 
with  the  real  or  supposed  history.  While  some  have  denied 
that  this  has  any  reference  to  the  Exodus  of  the  Hebrews, 
the  coincidence  is  so  unmistakable  that  writers  who  take 
very  different  views  of  the  facts  involved,  and  give  very  dif¬ 
ferent  explanations  of  the  details  appended,  yet  recognize 
this  reference.  Josephus,  who  disputes  the  accounts,  admits 
the  reference.  Delitzsch  even  identifies  the  shepherds  with 
the  Israelites.66  Ewald,  Bunsen,  Lepsius,  and  .Kurtz  find 
here  an  Egyptian  distorted  account  of  the  transactions  re¬ 
corded  in  Exodus.67  Several  marked  points  of  coincidence 
stand  out  very  prominently :  the  priest  of  Heliopolis,  Moses, 
the  lepers,  the  great  numbers,  the  rigid  law,  the  abrogation 
of  idolatry,  the  prophetic  announcement,  the  retreat  to  Syria, 
through  the  wilderness,  and  possibly  the  allusion  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  The  whole  narrative  may  be  fairly  recognized  as  a 
confused  and  disguised  account  of  a  great  national  disas¬ 
ter  and  terrible  humiliation,  and  even  of  the  overthrow  of 
the  reigning  monarch. 


65  This  same  account,  with  expansions,  abridgments,  and  variations,  is  given 
also  by  Chaeremon  and  Lysimachus  (the  latter  adopted  by  Apion),  as  quoted  by 
Josephus  contra  Apionem,  i.  32,  34 ;  ii.  2. 

66  Commentar  zur  Genesis. 

67  Kurtz,  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,  ii.  389,  seq. ;  Ewald,  History  of  Israel, 
i.  502  (English  translation) ;  Lepsius,  Chronologie,  325,  seq. ;  Bunsen,  Egypt’s 
Place,  iii.  194,  seq.  But  Canon  Cook  (Speaker’s  Commentary,  i.  4G2)  calls  this 
account  “  utterly  worthless.”  Ilengstenberg  thinks  it  an  Egyptian  perversion 
of  the  Hebrew  accounts. 


PHARAOH. 


93 


But  in  this  statement  from  Egyptian  sources  we  have  the 
three  successive  names  corresponding  with  the  known  order, 
Baineses,  Amenophis  (Menephta),  Sethos  (Seti  II.),  and  the 
history  of  Amenophis,  introduced  as  immediately  following 
Bameses,  the  length  of  whose  reign  is  given  as  sixty- six 
years.  Coincident  with  these  other  indications  is  the  fact 
that  the  monumental  records  of  Menephta  which  bear  date, 
are  not  later  than  the  second  year  of  his  reign  ;68  although  a 
tablet  at  Sourarieh  describes  a  great  victory  over  the  Lib¬ 
yans,  which  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  probably  in  the 
eighth  year  of  his  reign.69  Other  notices  of  him  are  scanty, 
and  the  monuments  of  his  reign  are  few  and  slight:  a  small 
rock -temple  at  Silsilis,  two  or  three  inscriptions,  one  of 
which  alludes  to  building  commenced  and  a  quarry  opened, 
and  some  cartouches  of  his  placed  on  his  father’s  works  at 
Thebes.70  The  lists  assign  him  a  reign  of  twenty  years.  His 
tomb  is  among  the  tombs  of  the  kings  at  Thebes,71  though 
not  finished.  Bunsen  says  of  it:  “The  introductory  scene 
only  is  represented,  which,  according  to  custom,  the  king 
caused  to  be  executed  after  his  accession,  in  preparation  for 
‘  the  eternal  house.’  ”  Others  have  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  narrative  in  Exodus  does  not  say  that  the  king 
himself  perished  in  the  sea,  although  the  first  impression 
made  by  the  narrative  is  to  that  effect,  and  Psa.  cxxxvi.  15 
is  understood  to  convey  that  meaning.  It  deserves  to  be 
mentioned,  also,  that  there  is  a  hiatus  in  the  occupancy  of 


68  Birch  (p.  136)  says,  “  the  first  year  Bunsen  (iii.  189)  says,  “the  second.” 

69  Lenormant  (i.  431)  supposes  the  Exodus  to  have  taken  place  but  a  very 
short  time  after  this  Libyan  invasion. 

70  Bunsen  says  (iii.  190),  “Lepsius  has  discovered  that  in  his  reign  there  were 
two  rival  sovereigns.”  But  Lepsius  would  seem  to  have  abandoned  that  opin¬ 
ion  when  he  wrote  the  “  Konigsbuch and  Birch  (p.  142)  expressly  designates 
the  alleged  “rivals”  as  successors. 

71  So  Mariette,  Lenormant,  Bunsen. 


94 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  Egyptian  mines  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  both  before 
and  after  this  reign,  there  being  no  record  between  Thoth- 
rnes  III.  at  Wady  Maghara  (though  Ebers  gives  Raineses 
II.  as  one  of  the  names  there  found)  and  Setnecht  at  Sara- 
bit  el  Khadim. 

The  date  commonly  assigned  to  this  reign  (about  b.c. 
1320)  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  received  chronology  of 
the  Exodus.  But  it  may  be  that  the  supposed  date  of  his 
reign  is  wrong,  or  it  may  be  that  the  commonly  received 
date  of  the  Exodus  is  wrong.  An  essential  element  in  the 
common  reckoning  is  the  date  given  in  1  Kings  vi.  1,  which 
makes  the  interval  between  the  Exodus  and  the  building 
of  the  temple  to  be  4S0  years.  This  statement  itself,  how¬ 
ever,  is  regarded  by  some  expositors  as  being  no  part  of 
the  original  text,72  although  it  is  to  be  conceded  that  the 
chronology  as  given  in  detail  elsewhere  amounts  to  a  still 
longer  period.  On  this  subject  we  must  be  content  to  wait 
for  further  light.  It  may  or  it  may  not  come.  Brugsch 
well  says  in  his  latest  work,  “  The  unexpected  discovery  of 
a  papyrus  containing  the  Book  of  Kings  without  the  least 
hiatus,  will  be  the  only  means  of  establishing  the  chronolo¬ 
gy  of  the  Egyptian  dynasties,  especially  in  that  part  which 
ascends  beyond  the  nineteenth  dynasty.”73  And  M.  Chabas 
frankly  admits  the  possibility  of  an  error  of  two  hundred 
years  in  the  date  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty,  “  so  vitiated 
are  the  documents  in  history,  or  incomplete  upon  the  mon- 

72  For  the  reasons — (1)  that  Origen  quotes  the  passage  without  the  date;  (2) 
that  Josephus,  Theophilus,  and  Clemens  Alexandrinus  do  not  recognize  it  where 
they  wTould  naturally  be  expected  to  do  so ;  (3)  that  this  mode  of  reckoning 
from  an  era  is  unknown  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  not  employed  by 
the  Greeks,  even,  till  much  later;  (4)  that  the  time  does  not  accord  with  the 
sum  total  derived  from  the  other  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  which 
would  make  the  interval  from  579  to  592  years. 

73  Ilistoire,  second  edition,  p.  179. 


PHARAOH. 


95 


uinents  ;”74  and  in  a  later  work  lie  distinctly  rejects  all  at¬ 
tempts  to  settle  the  dates  by  astronomical  calculations.75 

Canon  Cook,  in  an  elaborate  discussion,  strongly  argues 
for  the  Exodus  in  the  reign  of  Thothmes  II.  of  the  eigli- 
teenth  dynasty,  in  the  year  1617  according  to  the  dates  of 
Brugsch  and  Lepsius.  His  reasons  are,  the  admitted  short¬ 
ness  and  ingloriousness  of  the  reign,  the  apparent  catastro¬ 
phes  that  followed  his  death,  particularly  a  general  revolt 
of  the  confederated  nations  on  the  north  of  Palestine,  which 
no  attempt  was  made  to  subdue  till  the  twenty-second  year 
of  Thothmes  III.  There  was  also  an  intermission  in  the 
working  of  the  mines  at  Wady  Magliara  between  Thothmes 
I.  and  Thothmes  III. 

A  very  late  attempt  to  adjust  the  date  of  the  Exodus  and 
other  facts  is  made  by  Ernst  de  Bunsen  in  1874.  He  as¬ 
signs  it  to  the  reign  of  Amenopliis  I.,  the  second  king  of 
the  eighteenth  dynasty,  and  to  the  year  b.c.  1653.  His  ar¬ 
gument  is  more  confident  than  clear  or  convincing. 

Any  theory  which  supposes  the  Israelites  to  be  in  Pales¬ 
tine  prior  to  the  invasions  of  that  country  by  Thothmes  III. 
meets  formidable  objections,  both  on  the  side  of  the  monu¬ 
ments  and  of  the  Biblical  history.  The  former,  in  their  mi¬ 
nute  enumeration  of  the  tribes  he  encountered  there,  make 
no  mention  of  any  that  can  be  identified  with  the  Hebrews ; 
nor  does  the  Scripture  narrative  seem  to  allow  of  such  inva¬ 
sions  as  those  of  Thothmes  during  their  residence  in  Pales¬ 
tine.  In  our  present  knowledge  of  the  subject,  it  would 
seem  difficult  to  accept  any  time  previous  to  that  of  Raine¬ 
ses  II. ;  and  until  further  light  comes,  we  may,  perhaps,  best 
accpfiesce  in  the  view  of  Rouge,  Lepsius,  Bunsen,  Mariette, 

74  Melanges  Egyptologiques,  ii.  112  (cited  in  the  Speaker’s  Commentary,  i. 
452). 

75  Voyage  d’un  Egyptien,  p.  26. 


96 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Br  ugsch,  Birch,  and  others,  that  Menephta  was  the  Pharaoh 
of  the  Exodus.  Both  the  general  considerations  and  the 
special  traditions  already  mentioned  point  in  this  direction 
more  distinctly  than  any  other.  The  most  difficult  point  in 
this  theory  is  the  chronological  question,  for  the  theory  of 
Lepsius  brings  the  date  of  Menephta  at  least  one  hundred 
and  seventy  years  later  than  the  lowest  Biblical  data.  This 
may  be  left  for  future  adjustment. 

Meanwhile,  an  Anglo-Saxon  mind  cannot  fail  to  observe 
the  extreme  confidence  with  which  some  of  these  writers 
settle  this  question  on  very  doubtful  foundations;  for  it  ap¬ 
pears,  on  inquiring  for  the  authorities  on  which  Lepsius  de¬ 
termines  the  date  of  Menephta,  that  they  are  found,  funda¬ 
mentally,  in  a  combination  of  the  statements  of  Theon  and 
Censorinus.  If  we  accept  as  certain  the  single  assertion  of 
the  latter,  that  the  Sothic  period  began  in  the  hundredth 
year  before  his  time,  there  remains  to  connect  this  with 
the  reign  of  Menephta  only  the  assertion  of  Theon,  of  the 
fourth  century,  concerning  “  the  era  of  Menophres.”  When 
we  look  sharply  at  the  identification,  we  find — (1)  that  Theon 
himself  lived  some  seventeen  hundred  years  later  than  the 
era  of  which  he  is  supposed  to  speak,  and  we  naturally  in¬ 
quire  what  may  have  been  his  means  of  knowledge ;  (2)  that 
the  name  is  “  Menophres,”  and  requires  a  change  to  make 
it  Menophthes ;  and  (3),  that  it  is  still  an  assumption  that 
the  “era  of  Menephta”  means  the  Sothic  period  beginning 
in  his  time.70  These  may  be  all  valid  assumptions,  but  can 
hardlv  be  reckoned  among  the  facts  historically  settled. 


76  Mr.  Birch  (History,  p.  152)  seems  to  say  that  the  Sothic  period  is  recorded 
at  Thebes  as  beginning  in  the  time  of  Rameses  III.,  the  fourth  or  fifth  reign 
after  Menephta.  It  is  at  this  part  of  Thebes  his  conquests  are  sculptured,  and 
a  calendar  marked  the  fixed  year,  or  rising  of  the  dog-star,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  month  Tlioth,  the  New-year’s-day  of  Egypt,  about  1300  b.c. 


PHARAOH. 


97 


Two  short  sentences  could  contain  all  the  facts  now  re¬ 
quired  to  establish  the  true  theory  in  the  case,  and  to  re¬ 
move  all  the  objections.  But  whether  those  sentences  can 
ever  be  filled  with  the  ascertained  facts  remains  to  be  seen. 
Meantime,  the  grand  folly  is  dogmatism,  and  the  highest 
wisdom  is  patient  waiting.  Egypt,  it  has  been  well  said,  is 
the  land  of  surprises. 


7 


98 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TRACES  OF  CONTACT  BETWEEN  ISRAEL  AND  EGYPT. 

In  the  year  1S32  Champollion  the  younger  went  up  the 
Nile.  He  landed  about  sunset,  for  an  hour  or  two,  to  snatch 
a  hasty  view'  of  the  ruins  of  Karnak.  Near  the  end  of  the 
southern  wall  of  the  Great  Hall,  outside,  he  paused  before 
the  figure  of  an  Egyptian  monarch,  who,  with  upraised  arm, 
w7as  striking  a  company  of  captives  at  his  feet.  Behind 
them  stood  a  line  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  bearded  per¬ 
sons,  whose  bodies  were  half  hidden  by  shields  covered 
with  inscriptions.  While  in  Europe,  Champollion  had  seen 
and  read  the  monarch’s  name,  “  Sheshonk,”  or  Sliishak. 
The  moment  his  eye  fell  upon  the  twenty-ninth  of  the 
figures  bearing  the  shields,  he  read  its  inscription,  “King 
of  the  Country  of  Judah.”  He  stood  before  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  record  of  the  memorable  expedition  of  Shishak  to  Pal¬ 
estine,  and  his  capture  and  plunder  of  Jerusalem,  as  record¬ 
ed  in  the  Second  Book  of  Chronicles.1  It  is  “the  first  cer¬ 
tain  synchronistic  point,”  says  Bunsen,  “  in  Egyptian  and 
Asiatic  history.”  In  the  same  series  you  read,  also,  the 
names  of  Beth-horon,  Megiddo,  Mahanaim,  and  other  places 
through  which  the  expedition  passed. 

1  Chapter  xii.  Some  little  diversity  of  translation  does  not  affect  the  fact  of 
the  record  concerning  “Judah.”  Birch  translates  (p.  165),  “Royal  city  of  Ju¬ 
dah;”  Lenormant,  “Judah  the  royal”  (i.  453);  Brugsch  understands  “Judah 
Melek”  to  be  the  name  of  a  locality  in  Palestine;  and  Mariette  adopts  his 
view  (Itineraire  de  Ilaute-Egypte,  p.  173);  Bunsen  gives  it  (iii.  242),  “Judah, 
king.” 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


99 


Since  the  time  of  Champollion  the  inquiry  for  traces  of 
the  far  earlier  contact  of  Israel  with  Egypt,  and  in  Egypt, 
has  been  earnestly  prosecuted,  and  attended  with  as  much 
success  as  could  reasonably  be  expected.  The  attempt  is 
necessarily  attended  with  difficulties.  We  could  not  for  a 
moment  expect  such  indications  to  lie  upon  the  surface. 
All  the  circumstances  would 
seem  to  preclude  it. 

Names  would  long  ago,  for 
the  greater  part,  have  passed 
away  in  the  total  change  of 
language  that  has  prevailed 
for  more  than  one  thousand 
years.  The  dominant  races 
and  polity  have  also  changed 
many  times.  The  habits  of 
life  and  customs  of  commem¬ 
oration  were  unfavorable,  the 
monuments  being  those  of 
royalty  and  rank.  Only  the 
wealthy  and  the  great  could 
build  the  solid  temples,  and 
execute  and  decorate  the  vast 
sepulchral  palaces  which  par¬ 
tially  transmit  the  memory  of 
their  founders.  All  common 
buildings  were,  and  still  are, 
constructed  of  perishable  materials,  sun-dried  bricks,  which 
in  time  moulder  back  to  heaps  of  earth.  Everything  upon 
the  lower  levels  of  the  Nile  must  gradually  or  rapidly  be 
obliterated  by  its  inundations.  A  subject  nation,  moreover, 
whether  Hebrew  or  African,  builds  no  monuments  and 
makes  no  commemorative  inscriptions ;  and  when  an  en- 


100 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE , 

slaved  people  at  length  rises  in  its  might,  and  marches  out 
victorious,  the  vanquished  nation  left  upon  the  soil  has  little 
inducement  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  its  own  humilia¬ 
tion.  Even  the  later  Jewish  occupancy  of  certain  localities 
in  Egypt  would  tend  rather  to  confuse  than  to  intensify  the 
marks  of  an  earlier  occupancy. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  the  time  of  Christ  the  Jews  in 
Egypt  were  very  numerous.  Philo  estimates  their  number 
at  nearly  half  the  supposed  number  in  the  Exodus.  The 
Septuagint  translation  of  the  Bible  is  a  monument  of  their 
intelligence,  influence,  and  activity  between  two  and  three 
centuries  before  Christ.  At  one  place  their  name  still  lin¬ 
gers,  Tell  el  Yahoodeh,  “the  mound  of  the  Jews,”  twenty-two 
miles  nearly  north  of  Cairo.  The  ruins  here  are  commonly 
supposed  to  mark  the  site  of  the  city  founded  by  the  Jew¬ 
ish  high-priest  Onias,  in  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Philometor. 
Some  have  conjectured  that  this  place  was  selected  by  rea¬ 
son  of  historic  associations.  But  the  crude  brick  mounds, 
on  being  dug  into,  in  1870,  disclosed  no  Jewish  remains,  al¬ 
though  there  was  a  rumor  of  a  Hebrew  inscription  which 
never  was  produced ;  but  there  were  found  the  ruins  of  a 
magnificent  temple  of  Batneses  III.,  and,  according  to  Mr. 
Birch,2  monuments  of  shepherd  kings. 

But  there  are  numerous  subtler  indications,  all  the  more 
satisfactory  because  many  of  them  lie  beneatji  the  surface, 
and  have  lain  unknown  for  two  or  three  thousand  years  un¬ 
til  the  present  century,  and  because  some  of  them  have  in 
past  times  been  very  boldly  denied,  although  now  undenia¬ 
ble.  They  constitute  a  sort  of  water-line  mark,  or  a  writ¬ 
ing  in  sympathetic  ink,  unexpectedly  disclosed.  The  state 

of  the  case  is  as  follows :  Here  are  two  sets  of  records,  one 

/ 


2  History  of  Egypt,  p.  78 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


101 


from  Egypt  and  one  from  Palestine.  The  Hebrew  narra¬ 
tive  claims  two  things :  first,  to  have  come,  in  its  earlier 
portions,  from  a  man  born  and  brought  up  in  Egypt;  and, 
secondly,  to  describe  a  long  residence  of  his  people  and  va¬ 
rious  historical  transactions  in  Egypt.  These  two  sources 
should  exhibit  mutual  coincidences  and  correspondences, 
which  should  fit  into  each  other  like  the  two  halves  of  a 
torn  bank-note. 

These  coincidences  or  marks  of  contact  are  found — (1)  in 
the  references  to  and  implications  of  Egypt  in  the  Hebrew 
literature ;  (2)  in  the  coincidences  of  the  two  languages ;  (3) 
in  the  silent  influence  of  Egyptian  customs,  tinging  the  ear¬ 
ly  history  and  life  of  the  Hebrews ;  (4)  in  the  correspond¬ 
ence  of  certain  direct  historic  statements  concerning  Egypt 
with  the  state  of  facts  disclosed  by  modern  research. 

1.  Ho  doubt  the  most  fundamental  of  all  the  indications 
of  the  sojourn  of  Israel  in  Egypt  is  to  be  found,  not  in 
Egypt,  but  in  the  Hebrew  literature  itself ;  in  its  steady  ref¬ 
erences,  underlying  implications,  allusions,  assumptions,  and 
commemorations.  The  life  and  literature  of  the  nation 
were  suffused  with  these  reminiscences,  incorporated  bodily 
into  its  subsequent  writings  and  institutions.  The  Passover, 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  consecration  of  the  first-born, 
handed  down  the  Egyptian  history  in  solemn  and  special 
commemorations  and  ordinances,  like  those  celebrations 
which  have  just  occupied  the  United  States,  but  with  these 
important  differences :  that — (1)  they  were  constant,  and  not 
centennial ;  (2)  they  were  enjoined  by  positive  statute,  and 
not  left  to  voluntary  action ;  (3)  they  were  brought  home  to 
every  household  and  individual,  and  not  merged  in  repre¬ 
sentative  proceedings  ;  (4)  they  were  made  matters  of  relig¬ 
ious  principle,  and  systematically  enforced  household  in¬ 
struction;  and  (5)  the  process  began  from  the  earliest  child 


102 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


hood.  Aaron’s  rod  and  the  pot  of  manna  long  remained  as 
physical  mementos  of  the  journey  out.  The  second  rehears¬ 
al  of  the  Decalogue  incorporated  as  a  motive  of  obedience 
the  memory  of  the  oppression  in  Egypt.  The  Feast  of 
Pentecost,  the  Year  of  Jubilee,  the  law  against  usury,  the 
duty  of  beneficence,  were  all  urged  home  by  the  recollection 
of  Egyptian  bondage.  The  deliverance  was  an  habitual  re¬ 
frain  in  the  public  and  national  hymns  of  praise,  from  Miri¬ 
am’s  song  to  the  psalms  of  the  Babylonish  captivity.3  It 
was  the  theme  of  prophetic  appeal  from  Moses  to  Samuel, 
Hosea,  Isaiah,  Micah,  and  Jeremiah ;  and  that  oppression 
which  was  the  “  iron  furnace  ”  in  the  days  of  the  great  law¬ 
giver,4  was  still  the  “  iron  furnace  ”  down  almost  to  the  end 
of  the  ancient  prophecy.5  This  aspect  of  the  case  is  too  fa¬ 
miliar  to  require  expansion.  And  yet  it  cannot  be  omitted 
in  the  enumeration ;  for,  interwoven  as  it  is  with  a  nation’s 
life,  growth,  and  whole  history,  nothing  could  be  more  pro¬ 
foundly  significant. 

2.  Another  very  distinct  trace  of  the  Egyptian  residence 
is  found  in  its  effect  on  the  two  languages,  and  particularly 
as  exhibited  in  the  books  of  Moses.  Ever  since  the  old 
Egyptian  writings  were  first  deciphered,  scholars  have  been 
steadily  recognizing  the  incorporation  of  the  phraseology  of 
the  monuments  into  the  narrative  of  Moses,  and  lately  some 
traces  of  a  reciprocal  influence,  although,  from  the  nature  of 
the  case,  little  of  the  latter  effect  was  to  be  looked  for. 

Of  course  due  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  general 
connection  of  languages  by  families,  and  only  those  cor¬ 
respondences  should  be  recognized  which  are  too  marked 
to  be  thus  explained.  In  this  fruitful  and  expanding  field, 
I  shall  content  myself  with  specimens,  and  those  very  ob- 


3  E.  g.,  Psa.  cv.,  cvi. 


4  Deut.  iv.  20. 


5  Jer.  xi.  1 1. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


103 


vious,  without  attempting  an  exhaustive  list,  or  including 
questionable  examples. 

The  earliest  noticeable  instance  —  and  a  very  noticeable 
one  it  is — occurs  in  the  word  “  ark ;”  in  Hebrew,  tevah  or 
tebhah.  It  occurs  in  the  Bible  only  in  Genesis  and  Exodus.6 
It  has  no  known  Semitic  root.  But  the  Egyptian  tba  means 
chest  or  boat,  and  also  cradle.  In  the  same  connection  the 
word  “  cubit,’’  ammcth ,7 *  is  also  found  in  the  Egyptian  mah, 
Coptic  mahi.  The  occurrence  of  the  word  “ark”  in  Exodus 
is  in  the  midst  of  a  whole  cluster  of  Egyptian  surroundings. 
Thus  it  is  made  of  bulrushes  (or  papyrus),  gome?  a  word  oc¬ 
curring  only  in  the  Pentateuch  and  Job,  but  in  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  ham  and  Coptic  fem,  which  is  shown  by  Brugseh  to 
have  been  specially  used  for  making  the  light  boats  of  the 
Nile,  and  also,  in  one  instance,  into  a  basket.9  It  was 
smeared  with  slime  and  pitcli — chemar  and  z&phath .10 *  The 
second  of  these  words,  which  occurs  but  twice  in  the 
Scriptures,  is  very  common  in  Egyptian,  in  the  form  sft, 
meaning  pitch.  The  former  is  shown  to  be  identical  with 
the  Egyptian  word  of  which  the  consonants  are  inverted 
thus,  m-r-ch .  The  ark  was  placed  in  the  “ flags,”  snpli"  for 
which  there  is  no  Hebrew  or  Semitic  etymology.  But  the 
Egyptian  tufi  or  sufi  (Coptic,  hoof )  is  the  same  word  and 
thing — a  species  of  papyrus  growing  in  marshy  places.  It 
was  placed  by  the  “  river’s  brink,”  where  the  Hebrew  yeor12 
is  a  simple  transfer  of  the  common  Egyptian  aor ,  meaning 
the  river  Kile.  The  very  phrase,  “  by  the  river’s  brink,” 

6  Gen.  vi.,  vii. ;  Exod.  ii.  3,  rntl.  Different  writers  give  the  vowels  of  the 
Egyptian  words  diversely.  The  consonants  are  the  essential  elements. 

7  nsafit.  8  aaa. 

T  ■*  V 

9  Speaker’s  Commentary,  i.  484.  It  is  needless  to  mention  to  persons  famil¬ 
iar  with  the  laws  of  language,  the  substantial  identity  of  the  kindred  conso¬ 
nants,  as  b,  p,  v,  or  g  and  k,  or  t,  d,  th,  etc.,  and  their  constant  interchange. 

10  -inn,  nat.  11  a^o.  12  "ttcx 

T  *'  7  “*  V  • 


104 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


literally  and  peculiarly,  the  “lip"*  of  the  river,  occurs  in  an 
Egyptian  papyrus  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty.  Thus  com¬ 
pletely  Egyptian  is  not  only  the  scene  itself,  but  all  the 
characteristic  phraseology  in  which  it  is  narrated.  A  sim¬ 
ilar  instance  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection,  though 
occurring  later.  The  kine  of  Pharaoh’s  dream  fed  in  “  the 
meadow,”  achu ,13  a  purely  Egyptian  word,  in  the  precise 
form  achu  (Coptic,  acid),  meaning  reeds,  rushes.  Jerome 
learned  from  the  Egyptians  that  it  designated  everything 
green  that  grows  in  the  marshes.  In  like  manner,  the  “fine 
linen,”  shesk,u  with  which  Joseph  was  arrayed,  was  the  very 
shes  of  the  monuments. 

The  above  are  chiefly  names  of  Egyptian  objects,  di¬ 
rectly  retained,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  that  the 
objects  of  common  life  are  those  which  cling  to  a  speech, 
as  in  the  -Saxon  measures  of  length,  names  of  trees,  and 
similar  things.  The  same  principle  is  illustrated  abundant¬ 
ly  in  other  Egyptian  words  that  appear  in  the  Pentateuch. 
The  Hebrew  measure,  “  the  liin,”15  reproduces  the  Egyptian 
han,  a  vase,  or  a  measure  ;  the  “  ephah  ”  and  the  “  homer  ” 
of  Exod.  xvi.  are  both  also  Egyptian.16  The  “taskmasters” 
over  the  Israelites,  or  chiefs  of  tributes,17  are  designated  by 
two  words  found  upon  the  monuments,  and  the  first  of 
them  is  the  title  of  the  head-officer  in  the  brickmaking 
scene  of  Thothmes  IIP,  while  it  is  equally  characteristic 
that  the  officers  who  went  through  Joshua’s  host  before 
crossing  the  Jordan  (Josh.  i.  10)  are  called  by  a  Hebrew 
word  with  an  Egyptian  suggestion,  “  writers.”  The  “  stub¬ 
ble  ”  and  the  “straw”18  of  Exod.  v.  12,  hash  and  teven,  are 
almost  exact  transcripts  of  two  Egyptian  words,  meaning 


i3  .Tnst.  14  taia. 

T 

17  Exod.  i.  11. 

.  -  ••  T  7 


16  “pn.  16  nax, 

18dja,  "(SP),  Exod.  v.  12. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


105 


“stalks’-  and  “chaff.”  The  “bush”  in  which  Moses  saw 
the  flame  of  fire  was  a  seneh ,19  a  name  that  is  found  in 
papyri  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty  (and  in  inscriptions),  and 
means  the  thorny  acacia.  The  “  pot  ”  in  which  the  manna 
was  to  be  deposited20  is  expressed  by  a  word  found  nowhere 
else  in  the  Bible,  but  in  the  inscriptions  it  means  a  casket 
for  oblations.  And  when  the  Israelites  longed  for  the 
“flesh-pots,”  they  used  another  word,21  not  found  elsewhere 
in  the  Scriptures,  but  found  in  the  Egyptian.  The  “  tim¬ 
brel  ”22  which  Miriam  took  bore  an  Egyptian  name ;  and 
the  word  for  chariots  in  the  triumphal  song  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  “  marlcebhoth ,”23  is  almost  exactly  the  monumental 
word,  marhabuta ,  for  the  same  thing. 

Mr.  Hincks  considers  it  “  all  but  certain  that  the  name  of 
the  month  Abib,  in  the  Pentateuch,  is  taken  from  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  Epiphi,”  and  that  its  occurrence  in  the  Pentateuch  is 
“  one  of  the  undesigned  coincidences,”  which  “  could  not 
have  been  made  by  a  writer  of  a  later  date  than  the  Exo¬ 
dus,  or,  at  any  rate,  by  an  Israelite  who  was  a  stranger  in 
Egypt.”84 

Many  other  words  in  common  life  offer  no  Hebrew  deri¬ 
vation  or  connection,  and  are  ascribed,  with  more  or  less 
certainty  (some  of  them  as  clearly  as  those  already  given) 
to  Egyptian  roots,  such  as  the  words  in  the  narrative  for 
enchantments,  sorcerers,  frogs,  boils,  blains,  flax,  and  others.25 


20  nasws,  Exod.  xvi.  33. 

22  v]'n,  Exod.  xv.  20.  23  rcS'l’a,  Exod.  xv.  4. 


19  !"I5C,  Exod.  iii.  2. 

21  “PO,  Exod.  xvi.  3. 

24  Hincks,  Various  Years  and  Months  among  the  Egyptians,  pp.  38,  39. 
Fuerst  recognizes  the  allusion  in  the  name,  though  not  the  correspondence  in 
time,  which  Hincks  advocates.  So  also  Mr.  Eisenlolir,  while  recognizing  the 
correspondence  of  the  names  kin  and  ephah ,  maintains  that  the  capacity  of  the 
Egyptian  and  Hebrew  measures  was  diverse.  Zeitschrift  fur  Aeg.  Spr.  1875, 
pp.  43,  46. 

25  I  have  availed  myself  partly  of  the  selections  given  in  an  essay  on  the 


106 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  name  of  Moses  is  now  generally  recognized  as  an 
Egyptian  noun,  mesu ,  “  son,”  derived  from  a  verb  to  draw 
forth,  hence  readily  represented  by  the  Hebrew  “  mashah,” 
unless  indeed  the  Hebrew  verb  itself  be  of  Egyptian  ori¬ 
gin  ;  for  it  is  noticeable  again  that  some  of  the  Hebrew 
verbs  of  common  use  exhibit  a  singular  resemblance  to  the 
Egyptian  words  of  corresponding  meaning,  as  if  they  were 
little  else  than  the  same  words  simply  adapted  to  the  re¬ 
spective  languages.26 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  proper  to  mention  the  Hebrew, 
or  certainlv  Semitic,  names  that  occur  on  the  monuments, 
not  alone  of  foreign  objects,  as  the  horse  and  camel,  but,  as 
Brugsch  says,  “of  a  crowd  of  objects  for  which  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  tongue  had  exact  equivalents.  They  employed,  for 
example,  the  Semitic  word  “ rosh ”  for  head;  sar ,  for  the 
chief  or  king ;  belt,  house ;  bab,  gate  ;  bir,  well ;  gethem , 
gold ;  birhata ,  lake ;  salom ,  to  salute  ;  ram,  to  be  high ;  ba- 
rak,  to  bless ;  and  many  others.  These  Semitic  words  were 
so  rooted  in  the  Egyptian  speech  and  writing,  that  almost 
every  historic  document  of  the  times  of  the  eighteenth, 
nineteenth,  and  twentieth  dynasties  affords  new  proof  of  the 
mania  for  mingling  Semitic  with  Egyptian.”27  Brugsch 
attributes  this  fact  to  the  earlier  or  Shepherd  irruption. 
But  while  the  question  how  it  came  may  be  an  open  one, 
the  fact  is  admitted,  and  is  remarkable;  and  since,  with 


subject  in  the  Speaker’s  Commentary,  and  have  made  use  also  of  Birch’s  and 
Bunsen’s  dictionaries  of  hieroglyphics.  The  dictionary  of  Brugsch  I  have 
quoted  only  through  the  Speaker’s  Commentary.  I  have  referred  also  to  Pro¬ 
fessor  Dietrich’s  comparison  of  Egyptian  and  Semitic  roots  in  Bunsen’s  Egypt’s 
Place,  vol.  v.  The  list  could  be  much  increased. 

26  E.  g.,  AM ,  n^n,  to  live;  askak,  pn^,  to  cry  out;  rakat,  rkh,  prn,  to 

wash ;  Jmf,  bake,  etc.  See  numerous  examples  in  the  comparative 

glossary  in  Egypt’s  Place,  vol.  v. 

27  Brugsch,  Ilistoire  d’Egypte,  second  edition,  p.  142. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


107 


one  or  two  exceptions,  every  one  of  these  terms  is  unmis¬ 
takably  among  the  commonest  Hebrew  words,  it  would 
seem  singularly  unphilosophieal  to  suppose  some  other  un¬ 
known  origin. 

The  same  writer  refers  to  numerous  personal  names  of 
foreign,  and  some  of  them  clearly  Semitic,  origin,  such  as 
Baal  -Mohar ,  borne  by  native  Egyptians,  as  well  as  to 
certain  names  of  places,  such  as  Maktal ,  corresponding  to 
the  Hebrew  “  Migdol,”  fortress.28  But  these,  being  more 
uncertain,  may  be  left  out  of  the  account.  On  the  other 
hand,  several  of  the  appellations  given  in  the  Pentateuch 
as  Egyptian  names,  have  been  interpreted  from  that  ancient 
language.  Thus,  Asenath,  Zaphnath  Paneah,  Potiplierah, 
are  Favorite  of  Keith  (or  Isis  Keith),  “Food  of  the  Living” 
(or  of  Life),  “  Devoted  to  Ha.” 

These  are  prominent  examples  of  a  much  larger  class  of 
words.  The  fifth  volume  of  Bunsen’s  Egypt’s  Place  in  the 
World’s  History  contains  a  comparative  glossary  of  Egyp¬ 
tian  and  Semitic  words  extending  through  twenty-six  pages, 
a  very  considerable  portion  of  which  would  bear  more  or 
less  directly  on  this  subject.  From  the  first  unlocking  of 
the  hieroglyphics  there  has  been  a  steady  progress  in  the 
discovery  of  these  linguistic  connections,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  it  is  yet  ended. 

3.  Humerous  traces  of  the  long  contact  with  Egypt  are 
found  in  the  silent  influence  of  Egyptian  customs  tinging 
the  whole  earliest  history  of  the  Hebrew  nation.  This, 
again,  has  been  a  growing  field  of  discovery,  in  which  new 
correspondences  have  appeared  from  time  to  time.  Some 
things  are  known  certainly,  others  probably.  There  re¬ 
mains  a  laro;e  mass  of  circumstances  which  can  be  account- 


28  Brugsch,  Ilistoire  d’Egypte,  second  edition,  pp.  141,  142. 


108 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE \ 


ed  for  in  the  same  way,  but  of  which  the  connection  is  at 
present  only  conjectural.  Some  theorists,  no  doubt,  have 
even  carried  the  identification  in  certain  speculative  topics 
to  an  excess.  But  there  is  a  region  on  which  we  may  pro¬ 
ceed  with  the  firmest  tread. 

There  is  a  peculiar  force  in  this  part  of  the  discussion, 
inasmuch  as  in  the  Hebrew  narrative  of  the  facts  under 
consideration  not  a  word  is  ever  said  of  the  influences 
which  caused  them.  It  is  a  correspondence  which  unex¬ 
pectedly  emerges  to  the  eye  of  those  who  in  these  latest 
times  look  upon  the  two  ancient  records  now  first  laid  side 
by  side. 

The  nature  of  the  case  becomes  quite  striking  when  we 
compare  it  for  a  moment  with  another  signal  example.  A 
late  theory  would  carry  the  Trojan  war  very  nearly  back 
to  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  and  Homer  only  some  fifty  years 
later  than  the  events  he  describes  in  the  Iliad.  He  wrote, 
as  a  Greek,  of  the  Greeks.  But  while  his  pictures  are  rec¬ 
ognized  as,  on  the  whole,  singularly  coincident  with  gen¬ 
eral  and  special  facts  as  since  discovered,  so  that  Mr.  Glad¬ 
stone  calls  his  poems  “in  the  highest  sense  historical  as  a 
record  of  manners  and  characters,  feelings  and  tastes,  races 
and  countries,  principles  and  institutions,5529  yet  the  late  ex¬ 
cavations  at  Troy  present  some  such  discrepancies  of  de¬ 
tail  that  Mr.  Schliemann  maintains,  that  while  Homer  knew 
the  Troad,  his  knowledge  of  Troy  was  only  traditional  ;5530 
and  Mr.  Gladstone,  while  differing  from  him  in  some  re¬ 
spects,  “would  warn  the  inquirer  to  beware  of  the  disposi¬ 
tion  to  aim  at  establishing  an  exact  correspondence  of  de¬ 
tail.5531  He  says,  “  I  hold  it  to  be  certain  that  while  he  has 

29  Time  and  Place  of  Homer,  p.  9. 

3°  Troy  and  its  Remains,  pp.  18-20,  805,  872. 

31  Time  and  Place  of  Homer,  p.  30. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


109 


given  us  the  local  features  of  the  site  and  the  plain  suffi¬ 
ciently  for  a  large  identification,  he  has  handled  them  loose¬ 
ly  and  at  will  in  points  of  detail.  I  will  illustrate  this  po¬ 
sition  by  an  instance.  lie  gives  us  as  close  to  Troy  two 
fountains  which  were  the  sources  of  the  Scamander,  and  of 
which  one  was  hot,  the  other  cold.  The  result  is  that  there 
are  not  two  fountains,  but  four;  that  two  of  them  may  be 
said  to  form  a  double  one,  but  both  have  the  same  tem¬ 
perature  ;  that  none  of  them  are  sources  of  the  Scamander 
at  all;  that  the  Scamander  does  proceed  from  a  hot  and  a 
cold' spring,  but  these  are  far  away  from  Troy,  hidden  in 
Mount  Ida.”32 

Again,  in  regard  to  the  works  of  art  described  by  Homer, 
there  is  confessedly  even  greater  want  of  correspondence 
with  the  state  of  things  disclosed  in  the  excavations  at  Ilis- 
sarlik.  Says  Mr.  Gladstone,  “  The  remains  at  Ilissarlik  ex¬ 
hibit  no  works  of  art  so  advanced  as  the  belt,  brooch,  and 
armor  of  Agamemnon,  or,  above  all,  as  the  shield  of  Achil¬ 
les;”33  and,  in  vindication  of  Homer,  he  properly  falls  back 
upon  the  imaginative  privilege  and  functions  of  a  poet. 
But  the  fact  remains  the  same,  that  neither  the  brazen 
shield,  the  gold  bottle,  nor  the  gold  cups,  nor  the  jug  and 
vases  of  “Priam’s  treasure”  found  in  Ilissarlik,  exhibit  the 
tendency  or  the  capacity  for  such  ornamentation  as  the  poet 
describes. 

The  same  writer  comments  on  the  fact  that  the  Homeric 
poems  contain  but  a  single  undeniable  mention  of  anything 
that  can  be  called  writing,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
results  of  these  excavations  and  what  is  known  of  the  scar¬ 
city  of  early  writing  among  the  Aryan  stock,  as  among  the 
strongest  indications  of  the  very  great  antiquity  of  the 


32  Time  and  Place  of  Homer,  pp.  7 6,  77. 


33  lb.  p.  55. 


110 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


poems.34  And  yet  at  a  period  still  earlier  than  this,  or,  at 
the  very  latest,  contemporaneous,  another  writer  was  in  the 
boldest  way  referring  to  the  art  of  writing  as  abundantly 
familiar,  so  that  the  Commandments  were  not  only  then 
inscribed  upon  stone  in  the  Wilderness,  and  required  to  be 
written  on  stones  upon  Mount  Ebal,  but  to  be  bound  upon 
the  head  and  written  on  the  door-posts  and  gates,  whether 
literally  or  figuratively  ;35  and  still  further,  the  whole  rec¬ 
ord  and  narrative  of  all  these  things  purported  to  have 
been  written  down  contemporaneously.  So  improbable  did 
this  seem  in  the  general  state  of  our  knowledge  within  the 
present  century,  that  the  first  Hebrew  scholar  of  the  gen¬ 
eration  past,  in  his  earlier  life,  doubted  whether  the  art  of 
writing  could  have  been  known  to  the  Hebrews  in  the  ao-e 
of  Moses.  And  yet  he  lived  to  see  it  proved  that  for  ages 
before  the  Hebrews  lived  in  Egypt  the  art  had  been  known 
there,  and  that  the  nation  from  which  they  came  out  was 
a  nation  of  writers.  Such  a  scantness  of  allusion  to  writing 
as  was  suitable  in  the  Iliad  would  have  been  suspicious  in¬ 
deed  in  the  Pentateuch.30 


34  Time  and  Place  of  Homer,  pp.  63-65.  The  clear  allusion  to  writing  is 
found  in  the  Iliad,  vi.  168  : 

“  He  sent  him  thence 
To  Lycia,  with  a  fatal  tablet  sealed 
With  things  of  deadly  import  writ  therein.” — Bryant. 

36  Deut.  xxvii.  2,  3 ;  vi.  8,  9. 

36  It  is  curious  what  a  battle  has  been  fought  over  this  question  of  writing 
in  the  time  of  Moses,  and  how  every  inch  of  ground  has  been  hotly  contested 
in  Germany,  and  finally  surrendered  at  discretion.  One  Tychsen  maintained 
that  the  Egyptians  had  no  alphabetic  writing  whatever  till  they  received  it  from 
the  Greeks.  Hartmann  argued  that  only  the  priests  possessed  the  art  of  writ¬ 
ing,  and  also  that  the  condition  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  would  preclude  them 
from  all  knowledge  of  the  art.  The  same  writer,  and  others,  showed,  as  they 
thought,  that  there  could  be  no  suitable  writing  materials,  inasmuch  as  Egyp¬ 
tian  superstitions  must  have  prevented  the  manufacture  and  use  of  parchment. 
Vater  affirmed  that  only  stone,  metal,  and  wood  were  first  used  for  tablets,  and 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


Ill 


But  to  apply  still  further  the  criterion  suggested  by  this 
comparison  of  Homer  with  the  plain  of  Troy  and  the  treas¬ 
ure  of  Priam,  we  proceed  to  the  kindred  topic  of  personal 
ornaments,  and  the  skill  with  which  they  were  wrought. 
The  Pentateuch  mentions  that  the  golden  calf  at  Sinai  was 
made  out  of  the  ear-rings  of  the  women.  This  would  im¬ 
ply  a  supply  of  such  jewelry  not  safe  to  predicate  at  ran¬ 
dom  (for  example,  concerning  the  Greeks  or  Trojans),  but 
fully  conformed  to  the  condition  of  things  among  which  the 
Hebrews  had  so  long  lived,  where  not  only  are  ear-rings 
of  gold,  and  in  some  instances  set  with  pearls,  abundantly 
found,  as  well  as  represented,  but  where  one  of  the  pictures 
at  Thebes  exhibits  the  ladies  comparing  the  ornaments  in 
their  ears. 

The  implied  skill  in  metallurgy  and  the  manufacture  of 
jewelry,  formerly  questioned,  is  now  perfectly  established. 
The  whole  process  of  working  gold  is  delineated  in  their 
tombs,  while  various  modern  museums  exhibit  great  num¬ 
bers  of  old  Egyptian  ear-rings,  finger-rings  (some  of  them 
very  massive),  bracelets,  anklets,  and  other  kinds  of  orna¬ 
ments,  elaborately  and  delicately  wrought,  and  inlaid  with 


hence  extensive  records  were  out  of  the  question ;  and  he  and  others  appealed 
to  the  original  words  for  writing  to  prove  that  it  was  cutting  into  a  hard  sub¬ 
stance.  Von  Bohlen  and  Vatke  maintained  that  the  highest  date  of  writing 
among  the  Semitic  tribes  is  “  scarcely  ten  centuries  before  the  Christian  era, 
and  even  this  is  by  no  means  accredited.”  Hartmann  was  so  confident  that 
the  art  of  writing  could  not  have  existed  among  the  Hebrews  till  the  time  of 
the  Judges,  that  the  question  whether  Moses  was  the  author  of  any  part  of  the 
Pentateuch  could  not  be  even  entertained.  And  even  Gesenius  (Geschichte 
der  Ifeb.  Sprache,  p.  140)  and  De  Wette  (Archaeologie,  p.  277)  once  went  so  far 
as  to  maintain  that  only  in  the  time  of  the  Judges  could  the  Hebrews  properly 
receive  the  use  of  writing.  It  is  little  more  than  sixty  years  since  the  first  of 
these  deliverances  was  put  forth.  But  already  every  one  of  them  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  thoroughly  exploded  as  the  Ptolemaic  system,  and  as  obsolete.  A 
summary  statement  of  these  positions  may  be  found  in  Hengstenberg’s  and 
Haevernick’s  Introductions. 


112 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


precious  stones  and  enamel.  I  need  but  refer  to  tlie  jew¬ 
elry  of  Queen  Aah-hotep,  previously  described. 

The  stones  on  the  high -priest’s  breastplate — •  sard i us,  to¬ 
paz,  and  the  like — were  to  be  engraved  with  the  names  of 
the  tribes,  “  like  the  engraving  of  a  signet.”37  Such  a  di¬ 
rection  would  apparently  have  been  a  great  anachronism 
to  a  Greek  or  a  Trojan  at  that  time  or  much  later.  But 
the  art  is  most  abundantly  illustrated  at  the  Egyptian  home 
of  the  Israelites,  in  the  countless  names  engraved  on  scara- 
bsei,  signet-rings,  and  other  ornaments,  even  to  the  name  of 
a  queen  inscribed  on  a  glass  bead.38 

The  calf  which  they  worshipped  on  that  occasion,  unac¬ 
countable  elsewhere,  was  the  image  of  the  god  Apis ;  and 
the  dancing  and  the  singing  which  took  place  at  the  same 
time,  are  delineated  on  the  monuments  as  part  of  the  wor¬ 
ship  in  the  temples,  and  in  the  processions  as  they  ap¬ 
proached  the  sacred  courts. 

The  use  of  very  varied  musical  instruments  among  the 
Jews,  so  varied  as  to  be  somewhat  striking,  is  yet  abun¬ 
dantly  accounted  for  by  the  exhibitions  presented  to  the 
eye  in  the  tombs  at  Thebes.  Timbrels,  like  Miriam’s,  round 
and  square,  are  there  seen  in  the  hands  of  women ;  while 
pipes,  trumpets,  sistrums,  drums,  and  guitars  are  there  in 
great  abundance  and  variety,  and  harps  not  much  unlike 
the  modern  instrument,  with  varying  numbers  of  strings  up 
to  twenty-two.  The  colored  pictures  of  the  harp  and  the 
player  in  one  of  the  tombs  are  as  fresh  as  those  of  a  Ro¬ 
man  gallery.  Heads  and  frames  of  harps  are  to  be  seen 
in  the  museums  at  London,  Berlin,  and  Leyden ;  and  in  one 
instance  the  catgut  of  a  twenty-stringed  harp  was  so  well 
preserved,  that  they  sounded  on  being  struck,  two  or  three 


37  Exod.  xviii.  17,  seq. 


38  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  59. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


113 


thousand  years  from  the  time  when  the  fingers  that  played 
it  had  shrivelled  to  a  mummy.89 

Various  facts  connected  with  the  manufacture  of  the 
tabernacle  are  thus  readily  explained.  The  women  spun 
threads  of  “  blue,  purple,  and  scarlet,”  to  be  made  into 
cloth.40  Some  specimens  of  Egyptian  cloth  prove  to  have 
been  dyed  in  the  thread.41  And  even  the  blue  color  is 
found  in  these  cloths,  and  proved  to  be  indigo.  We  read 
also  that  they  did  beat  the  gold  into  plates,  and  cut  it  into 
wires,  to  work  it  in  the  blue,  and  in  the  purple,  and  in  the 
scarlet,  and  in  the  fine  linen.42  Both  gold  and  silver  wires 
are  found  in  Egypt,  the  former  in  the  reign  of  Osirtasen 
I.,  probably  six  hundred  years,  at  least,  before  the  Exodus ; 
and  Herodotus  tells  of  a  corslet  presented  by  King  Amosis 
(Aalnnes)  to  the  Lacedemonian  king,  which  was  adorned 
with  figures  of  animals  wrought  in  just  this  way,  with  very 
fine  threads  of  gold  and  cotton.  The  dyed  leather43  is  not 
oidy  exhibited  in  the  pictures  of  harps,  but  a  harp  in  the 
Louvre  at  Paris  still  shows  the  wood  covered  with  green 
leather ;  while  various  other  objects  covered  with  leather, 
such  as  chairs,  sofas,  bow-cases,  and  even  straps  embossed 
with  the  name  of  Shishak,  are  perfectly  preserved.44 

The  ark  was  to  be  u  overlaid  with  pure  gold.”  This 
again  was  no  novelty  to  the  Hebrews.  Specimens  of  this 
kind  of  work,  overlaying  and  inlaying  with  gold,  and  even 
of  working  it  into  other  metals,  occur  from  the  time  of  the 
first  Osirtasen.  Thus  among  the  ornaments  of  Aah-hotep, 
already  mentioned,  is  a  small  axe,  the  cedar  handle  of  which 
is  covered  with  gold-leaf,  and  its  bronze  blade  with  a  thick¬ 
er  coating  of  the  same  metal,  and  ornamented ;  and  a  dag- 

39  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  118.  40  Exod,  xxxv.  25. 

41  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  79.  42  Exod.  xxxix.  3. 

43  Exod.  xxxv.  7.  44  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  102. 

8 


114 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ger  (and  case)  lias  its  wooden  handle  stamped  with  female 
figures  in  gold-leaf,  its  handle  partly  covered  with  triangles 
of  gold,  and  its  metallic  blade  edged  with  gold  and  damas¬ 
keened  with  gold  figures. 

Many  respectable  writers  have  connected  the  carrying  of 
the  ark  with  a  similar  practice  in  the  Egyptian  processions. 
Others  have  thought  they  discovered  in  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  a  similar  origin.  But  the  former  supposition  is 
making  quite  too  much  of  inevitable  similarities,  and  the 
second  is,  at  least,  very  questionable.  In  like  manner  some 
have  considered  the  practice  of  circumcision  to  be  the  adop¬ 
tion  of  an  Egyptian  custom.  But  while  it  has  been  abun¬ 
dantly  proved  that  the  rite  existed  in  Egypt,45  it  has  been 
objected  that  the  proof  does  not  reach  back  with  certainty 
to  the  days  of  Abraham.46  At  the  same  time,  it  has  been 
well  remarked,  there  would  be  nothing  strange  in  the  di¬ 
vine  adoption  and  consecration  of  a  custom  already  exist¬ 
ing.  Certainly  the  anointing  of  the  Jewish  kings  after 
their  consecration  is  illustrated  in  the  temple  of  Medeenet. 
Haboo,  and  elsewhere,  in  which  the  same  ceremony,  at  this 
stage,  is  performed  upon  the  Egyptian  king.  Guests,  too, 
were  anointed  with  oil.  There  may  or  may  not  have  been 
a  connection  between  these  things. 

Some  of  the  injunctions  and  prohibitions  of  the  Penta¬ 
teuch  can  be  readily  accounted  for  only  on  the  supposition 
that  they  were  suggested  by  the  customs  which  they  had 
familiarly  witnessed  in  Egypt.  The  prohibition  of  certain 
incestuous  marriages  derived  special  significance  from  the 
practices  of  Egypt,  where  the  monarehs  not  only  married 


45  The  proof  is  well  exhibited  by  Ebers  in  his  Aegypten  und  die  Bucher 
Moses,  pp.  278-285. 

46  See,  for  example,  a  summary  of  the  case  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  Speaker’s 
Commentary,  i.  121,  122. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


115 


their  sisters,  but  one  at  least,  Rameses  II.,  is  supposed  by 
some  to  have  married  his  own  daughter.  She  was  queen 
while  he  was  king,  although,  as  Mr.  Birch  remarks,  “  it  is 
not  known  of  whom  she  was  the  wife.”47  It  is  not  im¬ 
probable  that  the  protestation,  “  I  have  not  eaten  thereof 
in  my  mourning,  nor  given  thereof  for  the  dead,”48  is  ex¬ 
plained  by  the  small  table  of  offerings  to  the  dead,  now  in 
the  British  Museum.  It  was  found  in  a  tomb  at  Thebes,  is 
made  of  reeds  and  palm-leaves,  and  contains  cakes  on  the 
lower  shelf,  a  trussed  duck  on  the  top  one,  and  a  similar 
bird,  cut  open  and  spread  out,  on  the  middle  shelf.  We 
cannot  say  certainly  that  the  prohibition  of  cutting  the 
flesh,  and  of  ploughing  with  an  ox  and  ass  yoked  together, 
were  occasioned  in  this  mode,  for  we  do  not  find  these 
things  on  the  monuments,  although  they  are  common 
enough  now,  and  the  former  seems  to  be  alluded  to  by 
Herodotus.49  But  the  clear  instances  which  have  been  cit¬ 
ed,  and  which  could  be  multiplied,  sufficiently  illustrate 
the  silent  and  subtle  influence  exerted  by  Egyptian  cus¬ 
toms  upon  the  early  history  of  the  Israelites.  And  it  prob¬ 
ably  is  a  well-founded  belief,  that  many  other  references, 
now  obscure,  only  require  a  restoration  of  the  lost  knowl¬ 
edge  of  prevalent  customs  among  the  people  they  had  lived 
among  and  had  left,  to  make  them  plain. 

4.  There  is  a  direct  and  often  minute  correspondence 
of  certain  historic  Biblical  statements,  with  the  results  of 
Egyptian  research,  which  implies  extreme  familiarity  with 
the  facts,  such  as  comes  from  personal  contact  with  them. 
Among  these  discoveries  are  some  even  which  seem  to  bear 
quite  directly  on  the  statements  of  the  written  narrative. 

The  field  is  too  wide  to  be  exhibited  except  by  selection. 


47  History  of  Egypt,  p.  134. 


48  Deut.  xxvi.  14. 


49  Herodotus,  ii.  113. 


110 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


But  the  Hebrew  Historian  moves  over  it  with  a  fearless  step, 
and  the  men  who  have  attempted  to  contradict  his  state¬ 
ments  have  hitherto  come  off  without  honor.  The  correct¬ 
ness  of  the  account  that  Abraham,  in  that  first  recorded 
glimpse  of  Egypt,  entered  a  mighty  kingdom  in  mature  civ¬ 
ilization,  has  long  since  become  a  truism.  The  un-Oriental 
freedom  with  which  Sarah’s  beauty  was  seen  unveiled,  once 
cavilled  at,  is  abundantly  confirmed  by  the  representations 
of  women  moving  about  freely  and  openly,  and  mingling 
with  men  at  the  feasts.  The  slavery  or  bondage  which  the 
narrative  recognizes  is  here  amply  set  forth.  Bows  of 
white  slaves  and  black  in  the  oldest  tombs  are  registered 
by  scribes.  The  list  of  presents  received  by  Abraham,  and 
the  items  of  his  wealth,  are  remarkably  confirmed  both  in 
the  inclusions  and  the  omissions — sheep,  oxen,  asses,  cam¬ 
els,  servants,  gold,  and  silver. 

Noticeably  there  are  no  horses,  although  in  their  Exodus 
the  Israelites  were  followed  by  horses  and  chariots.  As 
matter  of  fact,  not  a  horse  appears  on  the  monuments  prior 
to  Thothmes  III.,  who  clearly  in  his  conquests  brought  them 
from  Asia.  This  was,  according  to  the  view  already  indi¬ 
cated,  between  the  time  of  Abraham  and  the  Exodus.  Af¬ 
terward  they  became  abundant  enough  on  the  monuments ; 
as,  for  example,  in  the  time  of  Seti  I.  and  Bameses  II. 
And  yet  within  fifty  years  this  truthful  omission  was  char¬ 
acterized  as  a  blunder.  And  the  same  critic,  in  the  same 
sentence,  ventured  to  deny  the  presence  of  sheep  and  asses 
at  that  time.  But  a  tomb  in  the  region  of  the  pyramids, 
one  of  the  oldest,  records  as  the  property  of  one  owner  2235 
common  sheep  and  973  nobler  sheep  and  rams.  And  asses 
are  not  only  seen  in  the*  tombs  of  Osirtasen’s  time  at  Beni- 
Hassan,  but  whole  herds  of  them  occur  in  the  far  older 
tombs  near  the  pyramids. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT 


117 


The  ease  of  camels  is  still  more  remarkable.  They  do 
not  appear  depicted  on  any  of  the  monuments,  and  when 
the  name  occurs  in  the  New  Kingdom,  it  is  evidently  a 
transcription  of  the  Semitic  name.  The  only  reply  that  for 
a  long  time  could  be  made  was,  that  for  some  unknown  rea¬ 
son,  as  in  the  case  of  chickens,  which  are  known  to  have 
been  abundant,  though  never  delineated,  so  the  camel  was 
probably  omitted  through  some  caprice.  But  now  the  ear¬ 
ly  presence  of  the  camel  seems  to  be  incontestably  proved 
by  the  fact  that  Hekekyan  Bey,  in  his  borings  at  great 
depths  in  the  Delta,  found  the  bones  of  dromedaries.50 

As  to  the  silver  and  gold,  nothing  further  needs  to  be  said. 
We  find  the  process  of  working  gold  delineated  in  the 
twelfth  dynasty,  and  in  the  Leyden  collection  a  diadem  of 
combined  silver  and  gold  belonging  to  the  eleventh  dynasty. 

When  we  come  to  the  later  times,  the  facts  brought  to 
light  by  modern  research  form  a  series  of  very  striking  cor¬ 
respondences,  extending  from  the  sale  of  Joseph  to  the  final 
deliverance.  When  the  Midianites  are  described  as  freight¬ 
ed  with  “  spicery  and  balm  and  myrrh,”51  the  account  not 
only  conforms  to  the  Egyptian  demand  for  resinous  and 
fragrant  substances  and  spices  of  various  kinds  produced  in 
foreign  countries,  for  embalming,  for  medical  purposes,  for 
worship,  and  for  the  uses  of  private  life,  which  is  detect¬ 
ed  everywhere,  and,  in  the  words  of  Ebers,  revealed  “in  a 
thousand  passages  of  the  inscriptions,”  but  the  same  writer 
has  no  doubt  that  two  of  the  three  words  here  employed  he 
has  discovered  connected  in  the  “  Laboratorium  ”  of  Edfu, 
the  Hebrew  “  tseri  ”  being  represented  by  the  hieroglyphic 
tsai'a,  and  “  nekoth  ”  by  nehjpat ,52 

50  Lyell’s  Antiquity  of  Man,  p.  35.  These  investigations  took  place  between 
the  years  1851  and  1854.  51  Gen.  xxxvii.  25. 

52  The  Hebrew  words  are  "’‘125  and  r>£<-_3.  Ebers,  Aegypten  und  die  Bucher 


118 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Be  it  as  it  may  in  regard  to  these  two  words,  all  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  of  the  subsequent  narrative  have  been  found 
singularly  invested  with  monumental  confirmations.  The 
sale  of  Joseph  as  a  slave,  the  name  of  Potiphar  “  devoted  to 
Pa,”  and  his  position  as  commander  of  the  body-guard,  Jo¬ 
seph’s  place  as  steward,  and  the  nature  of  his  temptation, 
are  all  well  illustrated.  As  to  the  last  point,  indeed,  the 
British  Museum  contains  a  singularly  illustrative  story, 
which  is  referred  to  the  time  of  Rameses  the  Great.  It 
represents  two  brothers,  the  younger  of  whom  lived  with 
the  older  and  married  brother.  The  younger  went  to  the 
house  one  day  for  seed-corn,  was  encountered  by  the  wife, 
as  Joseph  was,  and  replied  in  a  similar  strain :  “  Thou,  O 
woman,  art  in  place  of  a  mother  to  me,  and  my  brother 
in  place  of  a  father.  It  is  a  great  wrong  of  which  thou 
speakest  to  me.”  And  he  returned  to  the  field.  A  charge 
like  that  against  Joseph  w^as  made  against  him,  and  the 
woman  had  even  wounded  herself  to  give  emphasis  to  the 
charge.  Her  husband  determined  to  kill  his  younger  broth¬ 
er,  who  fled  for  his  life.  The  pursuers  were  arrested  by  a 
river  full  of  crocodiles.  From  the  opposite  bank  the  young¬ 
er  brother  now  told  his  story,  and  mutilated  himself  in 
token  of  its  truth.  The  husband,  convinced  at  last,  return¬ 
ed  and  slew  his  wife,  literally  casting  her  to  the  dogs.  The 
story  is  equally  remarkable,  whether  it  be  in  some  way 
founded  upon  the  story  of  Joseph  or  entirely  independent. 
Ebers,  who  gives  it  in  full  after  Brugsch,53  inclines  to  the 
latter  opinion. 

The  wine  drinking  and  manufacture  involved  in  the  story 
of  the  chief  butler  stands  in  distinct  contradiction  to  one  of 

Moses,  pp.  289,  290.  He  cites  from  Diimichen,  Geograpliischen  Inschriften,  ii. 
lviii.  48a. 

53Aegypten  und  die  Bucher  Moses,  pp.  311-314. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT 


119 


the  statements  of  Herodotus,54  and  the  assertion  of  Plu¬ 
tarch,55  as  well  as  to  the  present  aspect  of  the  country.  The 
traveller  sees  no  vines.  They  are  not  reckoned  among  the 
present  growth  of  Egypt,  grapes  being  found  only  for  eat¬ 
ing  in  the  Fayoom  and  in  small  patches  in  the  Delta,  as 
upon  the  Isle  of  Roda  in  the  Nile.56  But  in  the  complet- 
est  confirmation  of  the  Scriptures,  the  early  pyramid  tombs 
show  the  process  of  vine-culture  and  grape-gathering,  and 
those  of  Beni-IIassan  (older  than  Joseph’s  time)  the  process 
of  wine-making,  while  at  Thebes  everything  connected  with 
the  cultivation  of  the  grape,  and  the  use,  preservation,  and 
intoxicating  effects  of  wine  are  delineated  to  the  eye.  The 
drunken  man  is  carried  home  by  his  servants,  who  hold  him 
by  the  head  and  the  feet;  and  another  lies,  like  a  sack  of 
grain,  helpless  on  the  shoulders  of  three  men.  Servants  are 
even  supporting  women  no  longer  able  to  support  them¬ 
selves,  and  one  brings  her  mistress  the  much-needed  basin, 
but,  alas!  a  little  too  late. 

In  like  manner  all  the  complicated  processes  of  the  ba¬ 
ker’s  art  are  fully  portrayed,  and  they  show  that  the  cui¬ 
sine  of  a  Pharaoh  might  be  almost  as  elaborate  a  process  as 
that  of  a  Napoleon.  The  fate  which  the  chief  baker  en¬ 
countered,  hanging,  so  alien  from  the  practice  of  the  Jews, 
is  declared  by  Wilkinson  to  have  been  customary.57 

The  observance  of  the  monarch’s  birthday58  is  a  custom 
specified  in  the  two  bilingual  tablets  of  Rosetta  and  Cano¬ 
pus,  in  the  first  of  which  is  also  mentioned  an  amnesty  of 


54  Herodotus,  ii.  77 ;  “  They  have  no  vines  in  the  land.”  But  in  other  sections 
bespeaks  of  wine-drinking  repeatedly:  e.  g.,  sections  60,  121,  168. 

55  Plutarch  de  Is.  6  ;  “  Thev  use  wine  only  during  fasts.” 

56  Stephan,  Das  Ileutige  Aegypten,  p.  91. 

57  Wilkinson’s  Ancient  Egyptians,  ii.  212.  Ebers  (Aegypten,  p.  334)  asserts 

that  “hanged  men  are  found  in  the  pictures,”  and  refers  to  Rosellini,  Mon. 
Civ.  cxxiv.  68  Gen.  xl.  20-23. 


120 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


criminals  in  prison,  such  as  took  place  on  this  occasion/’9 
The  prisoner’s  shaving  himself  to  come  before  the  king,  as 
well  as  the  neglect  of  his  beard,  in  token  of  affliction ;  the 
investiture  with  the  robes  of  office  and  the  gold  chain ;  the 
use  of  the  ring,  which  was  in  all  probability  a  signet-ring; 
the  sitting  posture  at  meals;  the  wagons  sent  to  Palestine, 
but  otherwise  unknown  there,  are  all  familiar  touches  of 
distinctively  Egyptian  life.  The  wagons  were  probably 
drawn  by  oxen,  as  was  also  Joseph’s  chariot,  just  as  at 
Thebes  one  sees  a  picture  of  an  Ethiopian  princess  riding  in 
an  ox-chariot  to  visit  the  Egyptian  king.  Here  the  mention 
of  a  horse  would  have  been  an  easy  anachronism,  which  is 
not  committed. 

The  “grievous  mourning  of  the  Egyptians”  is  a  phrase 
fully  justified  by  the  monuments.  In  one  of  the  more 
ordinary  funerals  you  see  eight  men  throwing  dust  on  their 
heads ;  then  six  mourning  women  shrieking,  no  doubt  as  I 
heard  their  successors  on  one  occasion  ;  then  the  hearse, 
drawn  by  oxen,  accompanied  by  a  driver  and  a  man  utter¬ 
ing  lamentations ;  next,  the  high-priest  offering  incense  and 
libations,  other  men  following;  and  behind  these,  eight 
women  beating  themselves  and  throwing  dust  upon  their 
heads.  The  funeral  of  a  grandee  was  upon  a  scale  propor¬ 
tionately  “  grievous.” 

Ecptally  well  illustrated  is  the  condition  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  times  of  their  oppression.  We  see  bands  of  work¬ 
men  presided  over  by  masters  with  the  perpetual  stick,  and 
the  bastinado  is  vigorously  applied  to  prostrate  men  upon 
the  soles  of  their  feet,  and  to  kneeling  women  on  their 
shoulders,  just  as  the  Israelites,  and  even  their  officers, 
under  their  “taskmasters”  were  “beaten”60  for  their  fail- 


59  Ebers,  Aegypten,  p.  335. 

60  Brugsch  (Zeitschrift  fur  Aeg.  Spr.  18*76,  p.  77)  cites  from  a  papyrus  the 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


121 


ores.  In  the  tomb  No.  35  at  Thebes,  a  singular  painting, 
already  mentioned,  shows  a  group  of  men  with  Asiatic  feat¬ 
ures,  and  some  of  them  with  bearded  faces,  going  through 
the  whole  process  of  making  bricks,  under  the  charge  of  a 
standing  overseer  and  a  sitting  taskmaster,  each  with  his 
raised  stick ;  and  over  the  scene  is  the  inscription,  “  Cap¬ 
tives  brought  by  the  king  to  build  the  temple  of  the  great 
god.”  It  is  unnecessary  to  regard  these  men  as  Hebrews, 
to  get  the  force  of  the  illustration. 

The  fact  of  an  occasional  famine  finds  its  exemplifica¬ 
tion  in  the  records  of  one  Ameni,  at  Beni-TIassan,  in  the 
forty-third  year  of  Osirtasen,  who,  among  other  grounds  of 

self-gratulation,  affirms,  “There  was  not  any  famine  in  my 

* 

day,  and  no  hunger  under  my  government and  curious¬ 
ly  enough,  in  a  tomb  of  Abydos,  at  this  period,  were  buried 
several  overseers  of  the  corn  placed  in  the  royal  granaries, 
precisely  like  the  “officers”  appointed  in  Joseph’s  time  for 
the  same  purpose.61  Indeed,  if  we  might  venture  to  fol¬ 
low  the  learned  but  boldly  speculative  Brugsch  Bey  in  his 
latest  work,  we  should  find  a  definite  allusion  to  the  very 
famine  in  connection  with  which  Joseph  rose  to  power. 
The  author  reminds  us,  first,  of  the  general  admission,  in 
accordance  with  the  tradition  preserved  by  Syncellus,  that 
Joseph’s  administration  was  in  the  time  of  the  shepherd 
kings;  and,  secondly,  of  the  record  of  Bameses  II.,  dated 
four  hundred  years  from  the  time  of  one  of  these  monarchs, 
corresponding  so  nearly  with  the  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years’  interval  between  the  entrance  into  Egypt  and  the 

address  of  a  taskmaster  to  his  builders,  thus :  “  My  stick  is  in  my  hand :  thou 
must  not  be  idle.”  See  Exod.  v.  14,  16,  17. 

61  Gen.  xli.  34,  35.  The  facts  from  the  monuments  are  given  by  Birch,  His¬ 
tory,  pp.  65,  66.  The  whole  hieroglyphic  text  of  the  inscription  at  Beni-Has- 
san,  with  a  literal  translation,  is  given  in  Birch’s  Selected  Egyptian  Texts, 
Egypt’s  Place,  v.  726-730. 


122  FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 

t 

Exodus,  the  last  being  supposed  to  have  taken  place  under 
the  son  of  Raineses.  And  after  this  preface  he  lays  before 
us  the  following  inscription,  found  near  El  Kab,  in  the 
tomb  of  one  Baba,  whom  Brugsch,  for  various  reasons,  re¬ 
fers  to  the  seventeenth  dynasty,  the  time  of  the  shepherd 
kings :  “  I  have  been  of  a  kindly  heart,  without  bitterness ; 
the  gods  have  granted  me  prosperity  upon  the  earth ;  my 
fellow-citizens  have  washed  me  life  and  prosperity  in  the 
city  of  El  Kab.  ...  I  have  amassed  wheat,  loving  the  good 
god ;  I  have  watched  the  seed-time.  When  a  famine  had 
broken  forth  during  many  years,  I  gave  wheat  to  the  city 
during  each  famine.” 

The  comment  of  Brugsch  on  “  the  famine  that  had  bro- 

4 

ken  forth  during  many  years”  is  as  follows:  “Since  such 
a  calamity  is  of  the  greatest  rarity,  since  history  knows  but 
one  case  of  the  kind,  the  seven  years’  famine  in  the  time  of 
Joseph,  and  since  this  inscription  dates  from  a  time  which 
clearly  approaches  the  epoch  of  Joseph,  we  arrive  at  the 
curious  and  important  fact  that  the  many  years’  famine  in 
Egypt  in  the  lifetime  of  Baba,  about  the  end  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth  dynasty,  refers  directly  to  the  same  event  to  which 
the  Scriptures  refer  when  they  speak  of  seven  years  of  fam¬ 
ine  in  Egypt  and  in  all  other  countries  of  the  world.”  The 
writer  also  affirms  that  the  text  itself  is  perfectly  simple 
and  clear,  and  thinks  that  the  most  rigid  criticism  cannot 
object  to  his  conclusion.62  I  leave  it  on  his  authority.  It 
is  at  least  valuable  as  an  illustration. 

Late  explorations  cast  light  upon  the  history  of  Zoan, 
which  is  now  known  to  have  been  a  fine  city  and  a  court 
residence  of  the  shepherd  kings  and  of  some  of  their  suc¬ 
cessors.  Some  of  their  likenesses,  in  stone,  are  now  in  the 


62  Histoire,  second  edition,  pp.  177,  178. 


TEA  CES  OF  CO  NT  A  CT. 


123 


museum  at  Cairo.  Here  Moses  may  have  encountered 
Pharaoh,  and  here,  as  will  be  mentioned  hereafter,  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  indicate  that  in  his  infancy  he  may  have  been 
exposed  in  the  Nile. 

Indeed,  it  was  confidently  thought  for  a  time  that  we  had 
reached  some  Egyptian  records  which  make  direct  mention 
of  the  Hebrews  themselves  and  their  doings.  The  cities 
built  by  the  Hebrews  were  called  Pithom  and  Pameses. 
How  a  papyrus  of  the  time  of  Pameses  II.  informs  us  that 
the  Pharaoh  erected  a  chain  of  fortified  cities  from  Pelusi- 
um  to  Heliopolis,  two  of  which  bore  the  names  of  Pacthum 
and  Pamses.63  They  were  situated  in  the  wady  Tumilat. 
“  The  papyri,”  says  Brugsch,  u  make  known  especially  two 
cities  situated  on  this  canal  (which  ran  through  the  valley), 
the  importance  of  which  is  placed  beyond  doubt  by  many 
passages  of  inscriptions,  and  which  were  fortified  by  one 
King  Pameses.  These  cities  are  the  more  remarkable,  in¬ 
asmuch  as  the  Bible  mentions  them,  under  the  names  of 
Pithom  and  Pameses,  as  being  built  by  the  Jews.”64 

It  has  even  been  supposed  by  some  eminent  Egyptologers 
that  they  had  found  the  Hebrews  mentioned  by  name,  as 
engaged  at  their  work,  under  their  overseers,  perhaps  on 
these  very  strongholds.  A  papyrus  in  the  Le}Tden  Museum 
contains  a  report  of  the  scribe  Keniamun  to  his  superior 


63  Or,  as  Birch  gives  them,  Pa-khatem  en  Garu  and  Paramessu,  Hist.  p.  131. 

64  Histoire,  first  edition,  p.  156.  The  same  thing  he  repeated  in  1864,  in  Aus 
deni  Orient,  part  ii.  p.  35.  But  in  his  last  edition  of  the  History  he  has  changed 
his  location  of  Raineses  out  of  Wady  Tumilat  to  San ;  whereas  all  that  can  be 
legitimately  inferred  from  late  discoveries,  as  is  remarked  by  Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson 
(Zeitschrift  fiir  Aeg.  Spr.  1874,  p.  153),  “is  that  the  name  of  Ramses  was  given 
to  a  quarter  of  Tanis  appropriated  to  the  royal  residence.”  Dr.  T.  refers  ap¬ 
propriately  to  the  showing  by  Ebers  (Durch  Gosen,  pp.  498-504),  that  there  was 
more  than  one  place  Ramses,  and  to  the  non  sequitur  of  assuming,  that  because 
the  quarter  occupied  as  a  royal  residence  in  San  was  called  Ramses,  therefore 
there  was  no  city  or  fortress  Rameses  in  Wady  Tumilat. 


124 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ILui,  who  was  one  of  the  high  officers  of  Rameses  II.  He 
writes  thus :  “  I  have  heard  the  command  of  the  eye  of  my 
Lord,  give  corn  to  the  soldiers  and  the  Apern  [Hebrews?] 
who  carry  stones  to  the  fortification  of  the  city  of  King 
Raineses,  beloved  of  Amnn,  and  who  are  under  the  orders 
of  Ameneinan,  the  captain  of  the  soldiery.  I  gave  the  corn 
monthly,  according  to  the  excellent  command  which  my 
Lord  has  given  me.”65  This  word  “ Apern,”  or  Aperiu,  first 
brought  specially  to  notice  by  M.  Chabas  in  1S62,  was 
somewhat  generally  recognized  as  equivalent  to  “  Hebrew.” 

The  name  occurs  in  three  other  instances.  On  an  inner 
wall  of  the  temple  at  Karnak,  among  the  lists  of  people  sub¬ 
dued  by  Thothmes  III.,  as  pointed  out  to  me  on  the  spot  by 
Mr.  Smith,  of  Luxor,  are  these  same  “Aperu.”  This  fact, 
as  Mr.  Birch  suggests,  throws  considerable  doubt  upon  the 
identity  of  the  two  names.  Still,  it  is  not  difficult  to  under¬ 
stand  that  the  victorious  monarch  might  enumerate  not  onlv 
the  subjugated  nations  abroad,  but  also  a  great  subject  peo¬ 
ple  in  his  own  land,  more  numerous  than  some  of  the  for¬ 
eign  nations  enumerated,  and  equally  distinct. 

In  a  document  of  which  M.  Chabas  has  given  an  ac- 
count,  and  a  translation  in  part,  occurs  the  mention  of  20S3 
Aperu  in  the  reign  of  Rameses  III.66  The  inscription 
of  Ilamamat,  according  to  the  same  author,  mentions  the 
Aperu  under  Rameses  IV. 

It  well  illustrates,  however,  the  uncertainty  of  many  of 

65  Cited  from  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  502.  The  full  hieroglyphic  text  and 
translation  is  given  by  Birch  in  his  “  Selected  Texts,”  in  Bunsen’s  Egypt’s  Place, 
v.  136.  In  that  volume  he  raises  no  question  of  the  soundness  of  the  identifi¬ 
cation. 

66  Voyage  d’un  Egyptien,  1866,  pp.  211,  212.  M.  Chabas  explains  the  matter 
by  supposing  that  not  all  the  Hebrews  responded  to  the  call  of  Moses;  but 
that,  in  accordance  with  their  general  tenacity  of  place,  and  their  special  ob¬ 
duracy  in  this  instance,  many  had  remained  in  Egypt. 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


125 


the  identifications  of  proper  names,  that  after  this  word  had 
been  accepted  as  the  Egyptian  equivalent  for  the  Hebrews 
by  not  only  Cliabas,  but  by  Birch,  Lenormant,  Ebers,  and 
others,  yet  quite  recently  Brugsch  has  taken  the  ground  that 
this  name  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Hebrews,  but  desig¬ 
nated  a  Semitic  tribe  dwelling  between  the  Nile  and  the 
Bed  Sea.  This  very  positive  dissent  must  leave  the  ques¬ 
tion  in  doubt  till  further  expressions  of  assent  or  dissent 
shall  come  from  other  competent  sources.  Hr.  Birch  also 
writes  (in  a  private  letter) :  “  I  have  always  doubted  the 
Aperu,  or  Aperiu,  as  Hebrews.”  He  doubts  because  the 
name  “  occurs  as  early  as  Thothmes  III.  and  descends  to 
captives  as  late  as  Bameses  N. — facts  difficult  to  reconcile 
with  an  exodus  in  the  interval,”  although  lie  adds,  “  not 
impossible.” 

Here  too  should  enter  the  story  of  Manetho,  quoted  by  Jo¬ 
sephus,  concerning  the  lepers,  who,  headed  by  Osarsiph  or 
Moses,  made  their  way  in  an  immense  body  out  of  Egypt  to 
Syria ;  which  narrative  it  is  difficult  not  to  recognize  as  a 
prejudiced,  bitter,  and  blurred  account  of  the  same  He¬ 
brews  and  their  final  triumph  over  the  monarchy  of  Egypt, 
and  their  withdrawal  to  their  own  land. 

From  this  point  it  would  only  remain  to  follow  the  names 
that  still  linger  traditionally  along  the  way  they  took  out  of 
Egypt  through  Sinai — Moses’s  Wells,  Pharaoh’s  Hot  Baths, 
Moses’s  Seat,  the  Desert  of  the  Wandering,  and  other  legen¬ 
dary  places  along  the  way ;  and  we  thus  trace  the  contact  of 
the  two  nations  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  their  rela¬ 
tionship,  by  indications  which,  though  not  obtrusive,  are  yet 
amono*  the  clearest  of  all  the  lines  of  ancient  history. 

More  than  this  kind  of  evidence  we  need  not  at  present 
claim,  nor,  indeed,  desire.  The  latent  and  subtile  connec¬ 
tions  and  circumstantial  adjustments  are  more  inimitable 


126 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


and  unquestionable  than  open  and  direct  statements,  which 
are  often  suspicious,  and  still  oftener  suspected. 

Meanwhile,  we  must  recognize,  notwithstanding  occasion¬ 
al  and  external  transfusions  of  customs,  the  deep  and  funda¬ 
mental  separation  between  the  inner  spirit  and  the  vital 
institutions  and  notions  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  monu¬ 
ments.  There  has  arisen  within  the  few  years  past  a  spuri¬ 
ous  science,  which  has  preposterously  endeavored  to  over¬ 
look  this  immense  gulf  between  them,  and  to  intimate,  or 
even  to  assert,  that  for  their  religious  views  also  the  He¬ 
brew  nation  were  directly  indebted  to  the  Egyptians.  One 
of  the  latest  and  most  unfounded  statements  from  a  re¬ 
spectable  source,  appears  in  the  last  edition  of  Brugsch’s 
History  of  Egypt  (1875),  in  which  he  speaks  thus:  “The 
forty-two  laws  of  the  Egyptian  religion  which  are  contained 
in  the  125th  chapter  of  the  c  Book  of  the  Dead,’  fall  in  no 
respect  below  the  Christian  doctrines ;  and  we  must  believe, 
when  we  study  the  texts  of  the  monuments,  that  the  Jewish 
legislator  Moses  has  drawn  up  his  moral  laws  on  the  model 
of  the  religious  precepts  of  the  Egyptians.”67 

How,  such  a  statement  derives  its  respectability  only  from 
the  distinguished  name  of  its  author,  as  will  be  seen  by  a 
moment’s  inspection.  These  forty-two  “  laws  ”  are  precisely 
as  follows.  The  deceased  person  is  represented  as  address¬ 
ing  “  Osirisis  and  the  forty-two  demons  of  the  dead,  each 
of  whom  presides  over  some  particular  sin  or  fault,”  and  af¬ 
firming  liis  innocence  of  these  several  sins  in  the  following 
words  :68  “  I  have  not — (1)  been  idle ;  (2)  waylaid  ;  (3)  boast¬ 
ed;  (4)  stolen;  (5)  smitten  men  privily;  (6)  counterfeited 
rings;  (7)  played  the  hypocrite;  (8)  stolen  the  things  of  the 

67  Brugsch,  Histoire,  second  edition,  p.  1  '7. 

68  I  quote  exactly  Birch’s  translation  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  omitting  the 
addresses  to  the  “  demons,”  and  not  repeating  the  phrase  “  I  have  not.” 


TRACES  OF  CONTACT. 


127 


gods;  (9)  told  falsehoods;  (10)  spared  food;  (11)  caused  to 
weep ;  (12)  rejected ;  (13)  been  idle ;  (14)  eaten  the  heart ; 
(15)  plundered;  (16)  killed  sacred  beasts;  (17)  made  con¬ 
spiracies;  (18)  robbed  the  streams;  (19)  been  deaf;  (20)  let 
my  mouth  wander;  (21)  robbed  things ;  (22)  corrupted  wom¬ 
en  or  men ;  (23)  polluted  myself ;  (24)  caused  fear ;  (25) 
plundered ;  (26)  burnt  my  mouth ;  (27)  been  inattentive  to 
the  words  of  truth ;  (28)  blasphemed ;  (29)  put  forth  my 
arm ;  (30)  made  delays  or  dawdled ;  (31)  hastened  my 
heart ;  (32)  clipped  the  skins  of  sacred  beasts  ;  (33)  multi¬ 
plied  words  in  speaking;  (34)  lied  or  done  any  wicked  sin; 
(35)  reviled  the  face  of  the  king  or  of  my  father ;  (36)  de¬ 
filed  the  river ;  (37)  made  length  of  [loud]  words ;  (38) 
blasphemed  God;  (39)  injured  the  gods  or  calumniated  the 
slave  to  his  master ;  (40)  made  his  things,  made  his  account, 
ordered ;  (41)  augmented  his  .  .  .  taken  the  clothes  of  the 
dead ;  (42)  despised  a  god  in  my  heart,  or  to  his  face,  or  in 
things.” 

Here  several  facts  are  to  be  noticed :  First,  in  the  words 
of  Bunsen,  “  these  things  are  principally  of  a  general  nature, 
such  as  are  common  to  all  codes  of  morals  and  religion. 
Some,  however,  are  of  a  local  character,  and  refer  to  the 
neglect  of  particular  formulae,  or  sacrifices  of  a  special  nat¬ 
ure.”  Secondly,  it  proceeds  on  the  basis  of  polytheism  and 
idolatry;  “stolen  the  things  of  the  gods,”  “injured  the 
gods.”  Thirdly,  it  is  a  purely  negative  code  throughout, 
never  rising  in  a  single  instance  higher  than  the  claim  not 
to  have  done  certain  things.  Fourthly,  it  is  purely  a  super¬ 
ficial  code,  dealing  with  physical  acts  almost  exclusively. 
Two  of  its  forty-two  “principles”  do  indeed  allude  to  the 
“heart,”  but  no  stress  whatever  is  laid  on  the  regulation  of 
the  spirit.  What  a  contrast  to  the  beatitudes  of  Christ ;  at 
the  highest  point,  what  a  difference  between  this  mere  “  way- 


128 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


laying”  and  “corrupting  women  or  men”  and  the  Saviour's 
murder  and  adultery  in  the  heart!  Fifthly,  this  enumera¬ 
tion  contains  not  the  slightest  hint  of  some  of  the  character¬ 
istic  precepts  of  Christianity,  such  as  meekness,  forgiveness, 
universal  benevolence,  to  say  nothing  of  faith,  love,  resigna¬ 
tion  toward  God.  And  yet  these  are  the  “  laws,”  which  are 
in  no  respect  inferior  to  (ne  le  cedent  en  rien)  the  Christian 
doctrines.  And  as  to  the  model  which  Moses  found  for  his 
“  moral  laws,”  the  most  remarkable  refutation  of  the  susses- 
tion  stands  in  the  very  fore-front  of  the  Decalogue.  For 
while  some  writers  claim  to  discover  traces  of  monotheism 
in  the  earlier  monuments  of  the  Egyptians;  and  while  it  may 
be  conceded  that  a  growing  degeneracy  of  religious  views 
and  practices  can  be  recognized  in  Egypt,  yet  it  remains 
true  that  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  and  all  the  actual  writings 
and  records  of  Moses’s  time  and  previous  times,  are  brimful 
of  the  grossest  polytheism  and  idolatry.  Yet  the  code  of 
Moses  in  its  two  opening  injunctions  cuts  up  the  whole  sys¬ 
tem,  root  and  branch,  while  its  closing  precept,  “  Thou  shalt 
not  covet,”  rises  into  a  region  of  which  probably  not  a  hint 
can  be  found  in  all  the  Egyptian  writings.  And  though  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  a  nation  so  ancient  and  well  reg¬ 
ulated  as  Egypt  should  not  furnish  many  maxims  and  meth¬ 
ods  which  could  be  wisely  adopted  by  another  people,  yet  a 
careful  comparison  of  the  whole  religions,  moral,  and  civil 
institutions  of  the  two  nations  discerns  a  contrast  than 
which  nothing  could  well  be  more  complete.  And  the  only 
claim  more  unfounded  than  this  of  Brugsch  was  the  pre¬ 
tence  of  an  American  theologian  to  have  found  in  Egypt 
the  doctrines  of  the  atonement  and  j  ustification  by  faith. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN. 


129 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN. 

The  general  location  of  Goshen  is  well  determined,  and 
a  part  of  its  territory  agreed  upon.  Its  extent  is  more  an 
open  question.  The  Scripture  has  furnished  several  points 
of  identification.  Some  part  of  it  was  near  the  seat  of  gov¬ 
ernment,  or,  at  least,  near  where  Joseph  was.1  It  lay  to¬ 
ward  Palestine,12  away  from  the  centre  of  Egyptian  popula¬ 
tion.3  It  was  eminently  fertile.1  A  part  of  it  was  within 
three  days’  march  of  the  Eastern  desert,  and  apparently  not 
through  a  hostile  country.  From  the  common  rendezvous 
two  ways  lay  before  the  Hebrews :  one,  that  was  “  near,” 
by  the  land  of  the  Philistines ;  the  other  by  the  way  of  the 
wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea.5  The  scene  of  the  miraculous 
plagues  was  in  the  “  fields  of  Zoan  ;”6  and  the  home  of  Mo¬ 
ses’s  mother  was  not  only  near  to  the  Nile,  but  evidently  to 
a  part  or  channel  of  the  Nile  where  there  was  no  danger 
of  crocodiles:  It  is  natural  to  understand  also  that  Raine¬ 
ses,  and  probably  Pithom,  lay  within  this  region.  It  is  once 
called  the  land  of  Raineses.7 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  Goshen  included  the  wady 
Tumilat.  This  is  a  narrow  fertile  strip  lying  some  thirty- 
five  miles  north  of  the  latitude  of  Cairo,  and  extending 
from  the  Nile  delta  to  the  eastern  edge  of  Egypt.  A  lit- 

2  Gen.  xlvi.  29;  xlvii.  1,  5,  6,  11. 

4  Gen.  xlvii.  6,  11.  5  Exod.  xiii.  17,  18. 

7  Gen.  xlvii.  IT. 


1  Gen.  xlv.  10. 

3  Gen.  xlvi.  33,  34, 

6  Psa.  lxviii.  12,  43. 


9 


130 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


tie  north  of  Cairo  the  two  limestone  ridges  that  shut  in 
the  Nile,  break  down  and  swing  off  to  the  north-east  and 
the  north-west  respectively,  making  room  for  the  delta. 
The  north-eastern  line,  greatly  reduced  in  height,  opens  at 
a  place  nearly  east  of  Zagazig,  and  lets  a  narrow  tapering 
valley  or  depression  of  surface  shoot  directly  east,  almost 
to  Birket  Timsali,  the  Crocodile  Lake.  It  is  the  wady  Tu- 
milat.  Occasionally,  according  to  M.  de  Lesseps,8  the  wa¬ 
ters  of  the  Nile,  at  their  height,  have  found  their  way  along 
this  depression  nearly  or  quite  to  Lake  Ballah  on  the  north¬ 
east. 

Along  this  same  valley  a  canal,  in  very  ancient  times, 
connected  the  Nile  with  the  Bed  Sea.  Herodotus  ascribes 
it  to  Pharaoh  -  Necho,9  who  destroyed  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  men  in  the  unfinished  work ;  and  he  says 
that  it  was  completed  by  Darius  the  Persian.  On  the  line 
of  this  old  canal  have  been  found  tablets  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  Darius  in  the  wedge-shaped  characters.10  But 
the  origin  of  the  canal  was  far  older  than  this,  and  goes 
back  as  far  as  to  the  time  of  “  Sesostris,”  or  Baineses  II. 
So  say  Aristotle,  Strabo,  and  Pliny ;  and  not  only  the  sculp- 
turings  at  Ivarnak,  but  the  discovery  of  one  or  more  in¬ 
scriptions  with  the  name  of  Bameses  along  the  line  of  the 
canal,  are  thought  to  confirm  the  statement.  -This  view  is 
accepted  by  the  great  authorities  in  Egyptology,  Lepsius, 
Bi  •ugsch,  Bunsen,  Wilkinson,  Mariette,  Birch,  and  others.11 


8  Conference  de  M.  F.  de  Lesseps  a  Lyon,  p.  16.  9  Herodotus,  ii.  158. 

10  One  found  “near  the  embouchure  of  the  ancient  canal”  bore  his  name  in 
the  cuneiform  character  (Rawlinson’s  Herodotus,  ii.  205) ;  and  others  bear  the 

name  both  in  Persian  (cuneiform)  and  Egyptian  (Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  472). 

11  Lepsius,  Chronologie  der  iEgypter,  p.  351;  Wilkinson,  in  Rawlinson’s  He¬ 
rodotus,  ii.  205 ;  Mariette,  Apertju  de  l’Histoire  de  l’Egypte,  p.  60 ;  Bunsen’s 
Egypt’s  Place,  iii.  181;  Brugsch,  Ilistoire  d’Egypte,  i.  135;  Birch,  History  of 
Egypt,  p.  122.  So  also  Rawlinson,  Ancient  History,  p.  35;  Maspero,  Ilistoire 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN. 


131 


This  would  make  the  canal  older  than  the  Exodus,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  common  opinion  as  to  the  reign  in  which  that 
event  took  place.  Along  this  valley  and  on  the  line  of 
this  canal  probably  lay  the  “  treasure  cities,”  store  cities  or 
strongholds,  Pithorn  and  Rameses,  the  former  toward  the 
western  opening,  the  latter  toward  its  eastern  limit,  per¬ 
haps  some  twelve  miles  from  the  Crocodile  Lake.  Pithorn 
has  been  found,  by  the  almost  unanimous  consent  of  mod¬ 
ern  scholars,  in  the  Patumos  of  Herodotus  and  the  Thoum 
of  the  Iter  Antoninum,  which  are  also  identified  with  Paa- 
tum  of  the  hieroglyphics.  The  Greek  historian  relates  that 
the  canal  “  leaves  the  Nile  a  little  above  Bubastis,  near 
Patumos.”12  The  Iter  Antoninum  places  it  on  the  road 
from  Heliopolis  to  Pelusium,  between  Vicus  Judmorum 
and  Tacasartha.13  The  former  place  is  identified  as  the 
modern  Tell  el  Yahoodeh.  The  hieroglyphics  mention 
“  Paa-tum  at  the  entrance  of  the  East.”14  Some  diversity 


Ancienne,  p.  226.  Mariette  and  Brugsch,  indeed,  attribute  it  to  Seti,  the  father 
of  Rameses  II.  Some  confusion  has  existed  on  this  subject  from  the  diverse, 
though  perhaps  not  contradictory,  statements  of  the  classic  writers.  Aristotle 
says  that  Sesostris,  and  afterward  Darius,  undertook  the  work.  Strabo  speaks 
of  both,  and  adds  Pharaoh-Necho.  Herodotus  ascribes  it  to  Pharaoh-Necho 
and  Darius.  Lepsius  combines  these  statements,  and  continues  the  history 
thus :  Rameses  II.,  “  beyond  all  doubt,”  made  the  canal  from  Bubastis  to  Seba 
Biar ;  Pharaoh-Necho  carried  it  to  the  Bitter  Lakes ;  Darius  from  the  Bitter 
Lakes  to  the  Red  Sea.  Ptolemy  widened  it  between  the  Bitter  Lakes  and  the 
sea,  made  an  artificial  sluice-way,  and  built  Arsinoe  on  the  sea.  Trajan  opened 
a  new  canal  from  Babylon  to  Heroopolis  (near  Seba  Biar).  Omar  (a.d.  644)  re¬ 
opened  the  interrupted  connection,  and  Mohammed  Abdullah  (a.d.  '76'/)  closed 
the  canal.  Chronologie  der  JEgypter,  p.  356.  The  French  Expedition  found 
not  only  the  bass-relief  figure  and  names  of  Rameses  on  the  line  of  the  canal  at 
Aboo  Kesheb,  but  between  the  Bitter  Lakes  and  the  sea  a  Persian  monument 
bearing  the  name  of  Darius.  12  Herodotus,  ii.  158. 

13  Quoted  from  Lepsius,  Chronologie,  p.  357.  Hengstenberg  adds  (Egypt  and 
the  Books  of  Moses,  p.  50,  American  translation),  but,  as  I  suppose,  without 
authority,  that  it  was  twelve  miles  from  Heroopolis. 

]4  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  497.  The  spelling  varies. 


132 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


of  opinion  exists  as  to  the  precise  locality  thus  indicated, 
although  the  range  is  small.  Schleiden  would  find  Pithom 
near  Tell  el  Ixebeer  :15  ITengstenberg  a  few  miles  (four  or 
five)  farther  west,  at  Abassieh,  at  the  entrance  of  Wady 
Tumilat;16  but  Pepsins,  Wilkinson,  Ebers,  and  others  have 
fixed  upon  Tell  Aboo  Soliman,  about  six  miles  south-east  of 
Tell  el  Ivebeer.17  The  several  sites  all  lie  within  a  radius  of 
some  three  or  four  miles.18 

But  when  we  seek  to  limit  the  land  of  Goshen  to  this 
small  valley,  as  some  would  do  ( e .  y.,  Schleiden,  apparently, 
and  Mr.  Poole),  we  are  met  by  difficulties  arising  as  well 
from  its  limited  extent  as  from  the  indications  that  certain 
places  outside  of  this  valley  belonged  to  the  Goshen  of 
Israel’s  residence.  Thus  Mr.  Poole  finds  the  area  of  this 
wady  to  be  but  about  sixty  geographical  square  miles ;  and 
though  restricting  the  Hebrew  population  to  two  millions, 
lie  is  obliged  to  allow  the  enormous  average  of  more  than 
thirty  thousand  to  the  square  mile.  Moreover,  the  region 
seems  to  have  bordered  on  the  Nile  at  a  place  where  Pha¬ 
raoh,  during  a  part  of  the  time,  had  his  residence.  The 
court  residence  which  best  answers  the  conditions  of  the 
narrative  is  Zoan,  Tanis,  San.  This  would  involve  the  sup- 


15  Landenge  von  Suez,  p.  175. 

16  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses,  p.  50. 

17  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  197.  He  cites  Lepsius  and  Wilkinson  as  holding 
this  view  with  dm.  But  Lepsius,  in  his  Chronologie,  gives  the  location  a  little 
indefinitely,  as  opposite  to  Bubastis,  at  the  entrance  of  the  valley.  Wilkinson 
(Rawlinson’s  Herodotus,  ii.  206)  describes  it  as  “the  ruined  town  opposite  Tell 
el  Wadee,  six  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  [ancient]  canal,”  and  about  thirty- 
eight  miles  from  the  Bitter  Lakes. 

18  Brugscli,  who  formerly  took  the  same  view,  in  his  recent  attempt  to  revo¬ 
lutionize  the  geography  of  Goshen  and  the  Exodus,  finds  Pithom  far  away  from 
this  place,  near  the  south-eastern  point  of  Lake  Menzaleh,  and  due  east  of  S&n 
(L’Exode  et  les  Monuments,  pp.  9,  11,  and  map).  Birch  (History,  p.  181)  ap¬ 
parently  finds  it  at  Heroopolis. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN 


133 


position  that  the  adjacent  territory  eastward  was  occupied 
by  the  Hebrews. 

Accordingly,  recent  writers  have  usually  assigned  to  the 
land  of  Goshen  more  or  less  of  the  territory  lying  between 
San  and  Wady  Tumilat.  While  Sehleiden  speaks  cautious¬ 
ly  of  this  wady  as  forming  “  the  essential  part  of  Goshen,” 
“its  kernel,”19  Robinson  says  that  Goshen  lay  along  the 
Pelusiac  arm  of  the  Nile  (on  both  sides),  on  the  east  of 
the  Delta,  and  was  that  part  of  Egypt  nearest  to  Palestine, 
which  is  included  in  the  modern  province  of  Shurkiyeh.20 
This  province  he  ascertained  to  be  “  the  best  province  in 
Egypt,”  even  as  Goshen  was  in  ancient  times  “  the  best  of 
the  land.”21  The  province  of  Shurkiyeh,  it  seems,  in¬ 
cludes  Wady  Tumilat,  and  extends  westward  to  the  Tanitic 
branch  of  the  Nile.  It  accordingly  coincides  somewhat 
nearly  with  the  region  which  Ilengstenberg,  Ebers,  and  oth¬ 
ers  would  ascribe  to  Goshen.  Ilengstenberg  defines  Go¬ 
shen  as  the  region  east  of  the  Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile, 
extending  as  far  as  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  on  the  border  of 
the  Arabian  desert.22  And  Ebers  would  bound  it  westerly 
by  a  line  extending  from  San  to  On,  or  Heliopolis,  and 
southerly  by  the  curved  line  bending  round  in  the  valley 
from  On  to  the  Crocodile  Lake.  The  eastern  (and  south¬ 
eastern)  border  is  understood  by  him  to  have  been  marked 
by  a  wall  or  line  of  fortresses,  built,  according  to  Diodorus,23 
by  “  Sesostris,”  and  extending  from  Pelusium  to  Heliopo¬ 
lis.  Within  or  on  the  borders  of  this  territory  lay  Heliopo¬ 
lis  (On,  Beth-Shemesh),  the  city  of  Onias  (Tell  Yahoodeh), 
Belbeis,  Eakoos,  Pithom,  Rameses,  Tahpanhes  (Tell  Daph- 
neh),  and  Pelusium.  The  shallow  salt  lake  Menzaleh,  in  the 

19  Die  Landenge,  pp.  1*74,  176.  So  also  Stephan,  Ileutige  Aegypten,  p.  125. 

20  Biblical  Researches,  i.  76.  21  Gen.  xlvii.  6. 

22  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses,  p.  45.  23  Diodorus,  i.  57. 


134 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


northern  part,  which  now  covers  so  large  a  space,  formerly 
had  a  much  smaller  extent,  as  is  proved  by  ruins  (e.  g ., 
Tennes)  partly  under  water.  Three  arms  of  the  Nile,  which 
then  flowed  through  and  fertilized  this  region,  the  Tanitic, 
Pelusiac,  and  Mendesian,  have  long  since  ceased  to  perform 
their  functions.  Large  portions  of  this  lake  are  but  a  few 
inches  deep,  and  it  is  conceded  that  much  of  this  shoal  re¬ 
gion,  now  rendered  useless  by  its  thin  covering  of  salt  water, 
“  was  formerly  one  of  the  most  fruitful  regions  of  Egypt.”24 
Its  low  land,  always  moist  and  marshy,  would  naturally 
form  a  place  of  pasturage.  Portions  of  the  adjacent  terri¬ 
tory  are  still  used  for  pasture  grounds.  In  the  region  of 
San,  Macgregor  found  “  all  the  vast  plain  deep  brown  in 
color,  not  the  sombre  hue  of  wild,  bleak  savagery,  but  that 
of  a  rich,  mellow  soil.”25  The  same  writer  mentions  a  neigh¬ 
boring  village,  called  “  Gosein.”  But  a  more  probable  sup¬ 
posed  reminiscence  of  the  early  name  is  found  by  Diimi- 
chen,  Brngsch,26  and  others,  in  the  modern  name  of  the 
place,  Fakoos,  or  Faqus.  The  Greek  name  was  Phacusa ; 
the  Septuagint,  Gesem  and  Gesen ;  the  monumental,  Ge- 
sen  and  Gosen ;  the  Coptic,  Quos.  The  last  syllable  of  the 
word  Fakoos  is  supposed  to  contain  the  root  of  the  name 
Goshen,  and  the  first  syllable  to  be  simply  the  article. 

On  the  whole,  we  may  properly  accept  the  broader  boun¬ 
daries  of  Goshen  indicated  by  Hengstenberg  and  others,  in¬ 
cluding  the  city  of  Zoan  or  San.  Some  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  Egyptian  discoveries  have  within  a  few  years  been 
made  by  Mariette  Bey  at  San.  The  ruins  had  for  a  long 
time  been  recognized  as  those  of  a  great  city.  Here, 
through  a  level  “  tract  of  rich  black  loam,  without  fences 


24  Stephan,  Ileutige  Aegypten,  p.  11. 

25  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  p.  72. 


26  Brugsch,  L’Exode,  p.  8. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN 


135 


or  towns,  and  with  only  a  dozen  trees  in  sight,”  winds 
the  stream  or  canal,  now  called  the  Mushra,  once  the  Tan- 
itic  branch  of  the  Nile.  A  little  way  from  the  eastern 
bank  of  this  stream  is  an  enclosing  amphitheatre  of 
mounds,  dark  red,  with  fragments  of  ancient  pottery,  and 
rising  at  the  highest  point  some  two  hundred  feet  above  the 
water.  Midway  within  this  enclosure  lies  a  great  mass  of 
mounds,  which  a  few  years  ago  were  uncovered  by  the 
forced  labor  of  five  hundred  men  at  a  time,  under  the  or¬ 
ders  of  Mariette  Bey.  The  result  disclosed  “  one  of  the 
grandest  and  oldest  ruins  in  the  world,”  extending  about  a 
mile  in  length  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  and 
comprising  three  large  temples.  ’ 

Among  the  ruins  of  these  temples,  consisting  of  enormous 
pillars  and  heaps  of  wall-stones,  lie  some  ten  obelisks,  and 
from  twenty  to  thirty  great  monolith  statues  of  porphyry 
and  red  and  gray  granite.  The  oldest  of  the  temples  is  sup¬ 
posed  by  Mariette  Bey  to  belong  to  the  sixth  dynasty.  The 
names  of  three  monarchs  of  the  twelfth  dynasty  indicate 
the  importance  of  the  city  then.  Statues  with  Asiatic  feat¬ 
ures  (now  to  be  seen  in  the  Boulak  Museum)  and  sphinxes 
bearing  the  name  of  Apepi  (Apappos),  the  king,  perhaps,  of 
Joseph’s  time;  and  certain  inscriptions  go  to  show  that  here 
the  shepherd  kings,  Asiatic  invaders,  had  their  capital, 
adopting  in  the  main  the  customs  of  the  land.  A  curious 
hint  of  these  Asiatic  relations  is  thought  by  some  to  have 
been  found  in  the  connection  of  facts  implied  in  the  state¬ 
ment  that  Hebron  was  built  seven  years  before  Zoan  of 
Egypt.  It  was  not  till  long  after  the  expulsion  of  these  in¬ 
vaders  by  Aahmes,  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  that  the  city 
seems  to  have  regained  its  ancient  importance.  Bameses 
the  Great  restored  its  magnificence,  adopted  the  shepherd 
kings  among  his  ancestry,  and  inscribed  his  name  in  abun- 


136 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


dant  instances.  Ilis  son  Meneplita  left  here  several  inscrip¬ 
tions  and  a  red  granite  statue  of  himself.  Here  was  an 
arm  of  the  Nile  combining  three  things  not  found  in  the 
main  stream  at  Memphis :  a  current  slow  enough  not  to  en¬ 
danger  the  ark  and  the  child  within  it,  reeds  along  the  edge 
of  its  more  sluggish  waters,  and  the  absence  of  crocodiles, 
which  the  monuments  would  indicate  to  have  frequented 
the  river  at  Memphis.  If  we  could  safely  accept  the  opin¬ 
ion  of  Lenormant,  the  earlier  view  of  Brugsch  and  others, 
that  Zoan  is  the  same  with  the  Avaris  of  Manetho,  we 
should  find  a  singular  coincidence  with  the  Scripture  his¬ 
tory,  in  the  habit  of  the  shepherd  king  Salatis,  at  least,  of 
residing  during  the  harvest  time  at  Avaris.27 

The  wady  Tumilat,  lying  in  this  territory,  as  already 
described,  and  forming  an  important  part  of  it,  with  its 
canal  running  eastward,  would  furnish  a  facile  line  of 
march,  and  a  supply  of  water  for  man  and  beast,  on  the 
way  out  of  Egypt. 

Somewhere  in  this  valley  of  Tumilat  lay  the  city  of  Ka- 
meses,  and  modern  writers  have  quite  generally  agreed  to 
find  it  at  Aboo  Kesheb  (or  Masliuta,  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  valley,  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  from  Crocodile  Lake.28 
Several  circumstances  point  to  this  conclusion.  A  consider¬ 
able  mass  of  ruins  has  been  found  there,  and  among  them 


27  The  identity  of  Avaris  with  Zoan  is  assumed  in  Smith’s  Student’s  Ancient 
History  of  the  East,  and  declared  to  be  proved  by  the  researches  of  Mariette 
Bey.  Lenormant  (Histoire,  i.  162)  assumes  it.  But  Bunsen,  Lepsius,  Ebers, 
Schleiden,  and,  in  his  L’Exode  et  les  Monuments,  Brugsch,  identify  Avaris  with 
Pelusium. 

28  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Champollion,  Ewald,  Hengstenberg,  Len- 
gerke,  Gesenius,  Robinson,  Lepsius,  Keil,  Mariette,  Ebers,  Schleiden.  In  the 
first  edition  of  his  History  Brugsch  took  the  same  view  in  the  most  positive 
manner.  In  his  recent  treatises  he  finds  it  at  San ;  Stickel  and  Fiirst  advocate 
Belbeis ;  Sharpe  and  Tischendorf,  following  Josephus,  decide  for  Heliopolis ; 
Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  for  Abassiyeh,  or  Abasseh. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN  137 

a  granite  block  containing  on  one  side  the  figure  of  Ra¬ 
ineses  II.  seated  between  the  gods  Ra  and  Thum,  and  on 
the  other  his  name  inscribed  six  times.29  The  enclosing 
walls  are  of  sun-dried  bricks,  mixed  with  straw,  specimens 
of  which  now  lie  in  the  Berlin  Museum.30  The  situation, 
on  the  ancient  canal,  and  within  two  days’  march  of  the 
edge  of  the  desert,  suits  the  Biblical  conditions.  The  Sal¬ 
tier  papyrus  records  that  Raineses  II.,  on  his  return  from 
the  conquest  of  the  Khita  (or  Idittites)  arrived  in  the  city 
of  Raineses  ;31  and  another  papyrus  places  Raineses  appar¬ 
ently  between  the  proper  Delta  and  the  desert.32  Further¬ 
more,  the  Septuagint  (in  Gen.  xlvi.  28)  substitutes  Ilero- 
opolis  for  Raineses,  and  it  is  somewhat  well  settled  that 
Heroopolis  was  either  at  Aboo  Kesheb  or  its  immediate 
vicinity.33  And  while  no  one  consideration  is  decisive  as 
to  the  site  of  Raineses,  the  combination  of  reasons  has  led 
to  a  somewhat  general  agreement,  and  the  more  readily  in 
the  absence  of  any  clear  competitor.  The  place  itself  pre¬ 
sents  no  special  features  of  interest.  The  French  Expedi¬ 
tion,  who,  I  believe,  first  called  attention  to  it,  and  suggest¬ 
ed  its  identification  with  Rameses,  describe  it  as  “an  exten¬ 
sive  heap  of  ruins,  which  indicate  the  position  of  an  ancient 
city,”  and  add  that  “upon  the  point  of  a  little  hill  which 
is  formed  by  these  ruins,  there  lies  a  great  granite  block, 
upon  which  in  relievo  are  hewn  out  three  Egyptian  dei¬ 
ties,”  or  rather  two  deities,  and  Rameses  between.34 

I  saw  the  western  line  of  this  land  of  Goshen,  and  passed 
through  its  chief  valley.  The  first  portion  of  it  that  fell 


29  Lepsius,  Chronologie,  p.  348.  30  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  501. 

31  Brugsch,  Histoire  d’Egypte,  p.  145.  32  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  502. 

33  Hengstenberg,  Egypt,  etc.,  p.  55.  Lepsius  finds  it  at  Mukfar,  a  short  dis¬ 
tance  east.  Chronologie,  p.  345. 

34  Quoted  by  Hengstenberg  from  the  Description,  xi.  376. 


138 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


under  my  observation  was  tlie  site  of  On,  or  Heliopolis,  if 
this  be  included  in  it.  It  lies  just  north  of  Cairo.  An 
anatomical  span  of  horses  and  an  obsolete  barouche  con¬ 
veyed  us  thither  in  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  On  our  way 
we  passed  the  barrack-looking  palace,  the  Abbaseyali,  where 
Abbas  Pacha  lived,  keeping  his  watchman  on  a  high  tower, 
and  swift  dromedaries  all  saddled  in  the  stable,  in  the  vain 
hope  of  escaping  assassination.  Farther  along  was  the 
Koobah  palace,  occupied  by  the  harem  of  the  Khedive.  In 
the  vicinity  we  met  his  son  in  an  English  carriage,  with  two 
outriders,  and  in  another  partly  open  carriage,  attended  by 
eunuchs,  two  ladies  of  the  vice-regal  family.  The  thinnest 
of  veils  did  not  prevent  our  seeing  that  these  ladies,  as  they 
dashed  by,  were  fine-looking,  having  marble  faces,  and  the 
large  eyes  and  long  black  eyelashes  which  we  associate  with 
Oriental  beauty. 

A  considerable  part  of  the  way  was  through  avenues,  and 
part  of  the  drive  through  extensive  plantations,  of  trees, 
which  the  Kile  water  had  in  fifteen  years  made  to  flourish 
luxuriantly  in  the  sand,  and  on  which  oranges  were  now 
hanging  in  vast  numbers.  One  great  lack  here  and  else- 
where  is  the  green  sod.  Every  part  of  the  soil  that  is  not 
steadily  watered  is  perfectly  dry,  and  presents  a  most  un¬ 
inviting  aspect  to  a  European  eye.  Just  beyond  the  Koo¬ 
bah,  we  crossed  the  battle-field  where,  in  1800,  Kleber  de¬ 
feated  the  Turks,  retaking  Cairo.  About  half  a  mile  be¬ 
fore  reaching  On,  we  turned  aside  a  little  at  Matareeah,  to 
see,  in  an  extensive  garden  or  orchard,  “the  Virgin’s  tree,” 
a  large  sycamore,  under  which  the  Holy  Family  rested,  of 
course.  It  is  very  old,  well  carved  with  names,  mangled 
of  its  twigs  and  branches,  and  now  protected  by  a  fence. 
The  Coptic  owner  will  furnish  a  few  leaves  for  a  small 
backsheesh. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN 


139 


From  this  point  the  ancient  obelisk  of  Heliopolis,  or 
rather  Beth-Shemesh,  as  it  then  was,  came  in  sight,  and  we 
soon  stood  before  it.  Although  five  or  six  feet  of  it  are 
covered  up  by  the  Nile  deposits,  it  still  rises  sixty-two  feet 
above  the  soil.  It  is  the  oldest  in  Egypt.  On  two  sides 
the  inscriptions  are  partly  obliterated,  or  covered  by  large 
numbers  of  wasps’  nests ;  but  on  the  other  sides,  the  name 
of  Osirtasen  of  the  twelfth  dynasty  stands  out  as  legible  as 
when  Jacob  and  his  sons  came  down  to  Egypt.  Only  the 
foundations  of  its  companion  obelisk  have  been  discovered, 
and  some  fragments  of  the  former  avenue  of  sphinxes.  An 
oblong  space  seven-eighths  of  a  mile  in  length,  surrounded 
by  mounds  and  remains  of  crude  brick  walls,  is  supposed 
to  have  formed  the  open  area  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun. 
To  the  north-west  you  walk  over  acres  of  mounds,  rising 
fifty  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  plain,  and  show¬ 
ing  the  remains  of  sun-dried  bricks,  mingled  through  and 
through  with  broken  pottery.  The  city  lay  too  near  Cairo 
to  have  much  left  for  the  antiquarian,  after  having  con¬ 
tinued  for  eighteen  hundred  years  substantially  a  deserted 
place. 

We  next  arranged  for  an  excursion  up  the  western  line 
of  Goshen,  hoping  to  visit  San.  But  through  the  difficulty 
of  procuring  exact  information,  we  were  obliged  to  stop 
short  of  San,  in  order  to  keep  our  appointment  with  our 
dragoman  at  Suez.  There  is  no  regular  route  to  that  place, 
and,  owing  to  changes  in  the  arrangements  of  the  canals,  it 
is  difficult  for  any  one  to  indicate  the  best  route.  After 
inquiring  of  Dr.  Grant,  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Watson,  and 
through  him  of  a  native  preacher,  we  started  by  rail  for 
Aboo  Ivebeer,  whence  four  hours’  ride  on  donkeys  was  to 
bring  us  to  San.  We  could  thus  return  in  season  for  our 
appointment  at  Suez.  Accompanied  by  a  bright  English- 


140 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


speaking  Arab,  as  interpreter  and  general  servant,  and  well 
supplied  with  provisions  from  the  hotel,  on  February  2d  we 
took  the  morning  train.  Emerging  from  the  trees  which 
surround  the  city,  and  passing  the  mounds  of  Heliopolis, 
our  way  held  on  through  green  fields  of  grain  and  cotton 
springing  from  a  rich  dark  loam,  diversified  with  occasional 
patches  of  flax  not  yet  boiled,  but  in  the  blossom.  The 
crops  were  in  every  stage  except  ripeness.  The  valley  was 
bordered  on  the  right  by  a  distant  line  of  sand-hills,  which, 
after  we  passed  Belbeis,  disappeared,  leaving  a  vast  green 
plain,  broken  by  channels  and  embankments  for  irrigation, 
and  relieved  by  groups  of  palms  and  acacias. 

A  halt  of  some  hours  at  Zagazig  gave  time  to  visit  Tell 
Basta.  It  is  the  Bubastis  of  the  Greeks  and  Homans,  the 
Poubaste  of  the  Coptic,  the  Pibeseth  of  the  Old  Testament, 
the  Bast,  Bahest,  Ila-bahest  of  the  hieroglyphics,  all  these 
variations  presenting  the  fundamental  form  of  Pasht,  the 
cat-headed  goddess,  to  whom  the  principal  temple  was  ded¬ 
icated.  It  was  in  the  western  border  of  Goshen.  South¬ 
east  of  the  railway  station  lay  a  long  line  of  high  and  in 
many  places  precipitous  mounds,  extending  perhaps  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  north  to  south,  and  sloping  oft  westward  to 
the  level  of  the  plain.  Ascending  the  north-western  slope, 
and  following  a  depression  in  the  embankment,  we  descend¬ 
ed  into  a  large  circular  area  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
diameter,  above  which  the  surrounding  embankment  rose  in 
some  places  apparently  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  or  more. 
In  the  middle  of  this  area  lay  three  heaps  of  fine  red  gran¬ 
ite,  twenty  or  thirty  rods  apart.  They  lie  in  excavated 
places  below  the  surface  of  the  plain ;  and  they  mark  the 
site  of  the  great  temple  of  Pasht,  that  was  five  hundred 
feet  long,  and  was  visible  on  all  sides  from  the  surround¬ 
ing  city,  the  latter  having  been  built  above  and  around  it, 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN. 


141 


just  as  Herodotus  saw  and  described  it.35  Few  of  the  frag¬ 
ments  now  remaining  show  marks  of  elaborate  workman¬ 
ship.  I  saw  here  a  leg,  and  there  an  arm,  and  then  a  line 
of  hieroglyphics,  carved  in  the  granite.  The  soil  in  various 
places  was  white  with  nitre.  I  picked  up  a  straw  near  one 
of  the  heaps  of  fragments,  and  the  strong  saltpetre  taste  of 
its  white  coating  was  unmistakable.  I  was  standing  in  the 
capital  of  King  Shishak,  and  on  the  site  of  the  most  at¬ 
tractive  temple  that  Herodotus  saw  in  Egypt.  The  mon¬ 
arch  himself  who  is  said  to  have  raised  this  city  to  emi¬ 
nence  left  no  permanent  token  here ;  but  the  perpetual 
name  of  Rameses  II.  was  found  inscribed  among  the  ruins. 
The  elevation  of  the  city  around  seemed  to  be  artificial, 
and  to  have  been,  at  least  in  part,  the  result  of  building 
houses  upon  the  ruins  of  others.  Various  clefts  and  ex¬ 
cavations  disclosed  at  every  stage,  from  top  to  bottom,  the 
distinct  strata  and  forms  of  crude  bricks.  The  same  ap¬ 
pearance  presented  itself,  as  we  returned,  all  along  our  way 
across  the  mound,  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  wherever  there  was 
an  excavation.  Kowliere  were  burned  bricks  to  be  seen 
except  in  places  comparatively  superficial.  Fragments  of 
pottery,  as  usual,  were  not  only  strewn  along  the  surface, 
but  through  the  whole  body  of  the  mound. 

We  continued  our  way  by  rail  to  Aboo  Kebeer,  passing 
no  object  of  special  interest.  The  region  exhibited  the  usual 
characteristics  of  the  Delta,  a  good  soil  and  growing  crops. 
Aboo  Kebeer  is  a  pleasant  little  village,  distinguished  in  our 
recollections  as  almost  the  only  place  in  Egypt  where  we 
were  not  assailed  with  one  call  for  backsheesh,  but  received 
the  most  civil  treatment.  But  we  learned  that  San  was 
eleven  hours’  distant,  instead  of  four,  and  a  visit  would  re- 


35  Herodotus,  ii.  138. 


142 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


quire  three  days,  or  two  days  more  than  our  expectations 
anticipated  or  our  engagements  for  the  Wilderness  would 
permit.  After  ten  minutes’  consultation  we  yielded  the 
point,  and  consoled  ourselves  that  a  general  survey  of  the 
region  was  more  important  than  a  personal  visit  to  a  ruin 
where  we  could  hope  to  add  nothing  to  the  researches  of 
Mariette  Bey,  but  enjoy  only  the  satisfaction  of  looking  at 
a  site  seven  years  younger  than  Hebron.  But  we  had  a 
night  to  spend  in  Aboo  Ivebeer.  There  was  no  such  thing 
as  a  hotel  in  the  place.  A  resident  Greek  courteously  in¬ 
vited  us  to  occupy  one  room  in  his  house  and  another  in 
his  neighbor’s.  But  as  the  Arab  station-master  offered  us 
three  compartments  in  a  railway  car,  we  accepted  his  hos¬ 
pitality,  made  a  hearty  meal  of  the  lunch  we  had  brought, 
enlivened  by  Arab  coffee,  slept  sound  and  hard,  and  awoke 
next  morning  a  little  cold  and  stiff,  but  ready  for  an  early 
excursion. 

Not  far  away  was  the  ruined  town  Harbayt,  the  Roman 
Pharbsethus.  We  set  off  on  horseback  to  visit  it.  We 
crossed  a  most  fertile  plain,  green  and  bright  with  young 
crops,  and  watered  as  usual  by  Nile  streams,  till  we  came 
to  the  channel  of  the  old  Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile,  on 
which  Harbavt  and  San  are  both  situated.  The  acacias 
along  the  line  of  the  channel,  like  those  we  had  yesterday 
seen  on  the  line  of  the  railway,  were  many  of  them  killed 
or  injured  by  borers.  The  reeds  or  rushes  that  lined  the 
edges  of  the  still  water  in  the  channel  naturally  suggested 
the  “  flags  by  the  river’s  brink,”  which  perhaps  were  but  a 
few  miles  farther  down  this  same  channel. 

The  ruins  of  Harbayt  are  of  the  standard  Egyptian 
type — a  high  mound  of  crude  brick  ruins,  here  about  a  mile 
long  and  half  a  mile  wide.  In  various  places,  however,  red 
bricks  were  visible,  telling  of  Roman  times,  and  broken  pot- 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN. 


143 


tery  everywhere.  We  saw  about  a  dozen  fragments  of  red 
and  gray  granite,  chiefly  the  former,  some  of  which  showed 
marks  of  the  chisel.  One  of  them  looked  like  a  shaft 
injured  by  fire.  The  highest  elevation  was  occupied  by  a 
minaret  and  a  few  Arab  dwellings.  The  ruins  are  of  Ro¬ 
man  times,  and  they  show  how  thoroughly  a  very  consider¬ 
able  city  of  that  date  could  drop  into  extinction. 

It  would  have  gratified  a  sentiment  could  we  have  pro¬ 
ceeded,  as  we  proposed,  to  San.  The  place,  however,  has 
been  sufficiently  described,  and  carefully  explored.  I  had 
seen  at  the  Boulak  Museum  many  of  the  objects  of  interest 
that  could  be  removed  from  the  place,  including  the  trilin¬ 
gual  “  Stone  of  San,”  a  king  holding  the  sceptre,  hylc, 
sphynxes  with  the  Asiatic  features,  the  cartouche  of  Me- 
nephta,  the  mild-faced  statue  of  that  monarch,  and  various 
smaller  objects. 

The  Great  Temple,  as  already  mentioned,  dates  from  the 
sixth  dynasty ;  the  Temple  of  the  East  was  built  by  Raine¬ 
ses  II. ;  the  Temple  of  the  South  bears  the  name  of  a  Ptol¬ 
emy.30  Here  were  found  inscriptions  of  Menephta,  one  of 
which  calls  him  “  Lord  of  Avaris,”  and  a  stela  of  unusual  in¬ 
terest  announcing  a  certain  year  of  Raineses  II.  as  the  four 
hundredth  from  Xubti,  the  shepherd  king.  Here  is  an  in¬ 
scription  by  Apepi,  one  of  those  shepherd  kings.37  The  in¬ 
vestigations^  San  are  thought  to  have  essentially  increased 
our  knowledge  of  those  kings,  and  to  have  confirmed  their 
Asiatic  origin,  as  well  as  shown  their  general  conformity  to 
the  customs  of  the  country  they  had  conquered.  It  is  part¬ 
ly  on  the  strength  of  incriptions  found  here  that  M.  Brugsch 
in  his  recent  writings  would  identify  San  or  Paramessu 
with  the  Raineses  of  Exodus. 

36  Mariette  Bey,  Notice  des  Principaux  Monuments,  pp.  280-283. 

37  lb.  pp.  284,  286,  290. 


144 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 

4 

We  returned  from  Aboo  Kebeer  to  Zagazig,  and  on  the  4tli 
of  February  took  the  train  for  Suez,  where  our  caravan  was 
to  join  us.  From  Zagazig  the  railway  runs  almost  due  east, 
soon  entering  and  following  Wady  Tumilat.  For  a  long  dis¬ 
tance  the  valley  seemed  the  most  productive  part  of  Egypt 
that  I  had  seen.  In  its  wider  parts  it  may  be  two  miles 
or  more  in  breadth,  growing  steadily  narrower,  till  before 
reaching  Ismailia,  on  the  Crocodile  Lake  (which  is  by  rail 
forty-seven  miles  east  of  Zagazig),  it  entirely  fades  out. 
The  railway  and  the  Sweet-water  Canal  run  through  its  en¬ 
tire  length.  At  very  high  stages  of  the  Nile,  and  at  rare 
intervals,  the  river  water  has  been  known  to  force  its  way 
through;  although  the  ordinary  limit  of  its  overflow  is 
found  at  Has  el  Wady,  a  barrier  situated  a  little  more  than 
half-way  to  the  lake.38 

From  Zagazig  to  the  next  station,  Aboo  Ilamed  (ten 
miles),  the  plain  was  bright  and  beautiful  with  green  crops, 
and  the  view  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  a  distant  line  of 
hills.  The  fields  were  intersected  by  little  channels  of  Nile 
water,  which  were  bordered  by  acacias  and  occasional  syca¬ 
mores,  or  groups  of  palms.  The  low  mud-houses  and  rare¬ 
ly  occurring  villages  were  scarcely  discernible,  and  hardly 
constituted  a  feature  in  the  landscape.  Near  Aboo  Hamed 
we  crossed  the  old  caravan  road  to  Syria,  the  great  thor¬ 
oughfare  over  which  had  come  the  conquerors  of  Egypt  and 
the  wise  men  of  Greece,  but  we  passed  it  so  quietly  as  not 
to  notice  the  track.  Not  far  from  Aboo  ITamed  lay  a 
small  village  or  cluster  of  houses  in  a  palm-grove,  marking 
the  place  Abassieh,  which  some  have  thought  to  be  the  Ra¬ 
ineses  of  the  Bible. 

After  leaving  this  place,  the  railway  was  closely  skirted 


38  Schleiden,  Landenge,  p.  170.  Robinson,  i.  73. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN. 


145 


on  the  north  by  a  sheer  desert,  extending  off  in  low  sandy 
hillocks.  On  the  south  side  lay  a  narrow  belt  of  fertile 
soil,  through  which  passes  the  Sweet-water  Canal,  the  source 
of  its  fertility.  We  had  now  left  what  might  be  called 
the  delta,  and  entered  the  wady.  The  valley  appeared  as 
though  it  might  be  reclaimable  by  Nile  water  beyond  its 
present  limits,  and  might  once  have  been  more  widely  cul¬ 
tivated.  It  seemed  to  me  in  many  places  to  be  not  mere 
sand,  but  to  show  some  yellowish  soil,  while  numerous  tufts 
of  coarse  grass  and  other  straggling  vegetation  gave  signs 
of  life.  Indeed,  the  limit  of  cultivation  in  this  whole  coun¬ 
try  seems  to  be  the  limit  of  irrigation. 

The  next  station  (seven  miles)  is  Tell  el  Kebeer,  a  large, 
high  village,  making  a  show  of  numerous  white  buildings 
in  an  abundant  growth  of  trees.  Three  or  four  miles  in 
a  southerly  direction  could  be  seen  palm -groves  and  low 
mounds,  one  of  the  spots,  as  I  supposed,  which  has  been 
fixed  upon  for  Patumos,  or  Pithom,  which  by  general  con¬ 
sent  lay  either  there  or  not  far  away. 

Another  fourteen  miles  along  this  singular  strip  of  green 

sandwiched  in  between  the  two  interminable  zones  of  sand 

brought  us  to  the  station  Maxamah.  In  one  place  only 

was  the  southern  border  of  the  wady  terminated  by  low 

hills,  still  of  sand.  Just  before  reaching  the  station  was  a 

shallow  lake  filled  with  Nile  water.  A  little  beyond  the 

«/ 

station,  as  we  passed,  we  could  see  to  the  south  a  low  hill 
or  hills  scantily  sprinkled  with  vegetation.  Here  was  Tell 
Mashuta,  Aboo  or  Kesheb  (or  Keisheib,  for  it  is  spelled  in 
several  ways),  somewhat  generally  accepted  as  the  Pameses 
of  the  Bible.  Of  course,  nothing  special  could  be  seen 
from  the  train ;  nor,  indeed,  does  it  appear  that  anything  of 
interest  or  importance  is  to  be  seen  or  found  at  the  place 
itself,  unless  it  should  be  by  laborious  excavations. 

10 


146 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


For  tlie  fourteen  miles  beyond  Maxamah,  the  green  val¬ 
ley  grew  gradually  smaller  and  less  continuous,  until  it 
faded  out,  although  tufts  of  vegetation  scattered  on  both 
sides  of  the  track  indicated  the  possibilities  of  the  region. 
The  sand  began  to  lie  in  heaps  and  hillocks  along  our 
path,  rising  higher,  till,  two  or  three  miles  before  reaching 
Ismailia,  deep  cuttings  showed  portions  of  it  hardened  into 
sandstone,  with  here  and  there  thin  layers  that  looked  like 
limestone.  As  we  emerged  from  one  of  these  excavations, 
suddenly  there  came  in  sight  a  blue  sheet  of  water  dotted 
with  vessels,  and  surrounded  with  sand  on  every  side  but 
the  south-wTest,  where  a  miniature  city  relieved  the  blank. 

The  water  was  the  Crocodile  Lake,  and  the  city  was  Is¬ 
mailia,  named  from  Ismail  Pacha,  its  founder.  The  little 
city  is  a  singular  phenomenon,  created  within  ten  years 
upon  a  desert  surface,  yet  rejoicing  in  its  fine  gardens  and 
choicest  shrubbery.  But  already  it  wTas  showing  signs  that 
the  high  pressure  of  its  growth  was  abated.  Its  hotel  ac¬ 
commodations  seemed  almost  empt}7,  and  its  railway-run¬ 
ners  and  hangers-on  were  quite  insatiable  and  irrepressible. 
The  palace  built  by  the  Khedive  to  celebrate  the  comple¬ 
tion  of  the  canal  had  lono;  been  tenantless.  Business  seem- 
ed  stagnant,  and  the  aspect  of  the  place  was  decidedly  that 
of  decadence.  And  we  learned  that  such  was  the  fact. 
The  high  tide  of  prosperity  wras  past,  and  that  faded  air 
was  coming  on  which  some  of  us  have  seen  in  the  “  specu¬ 
lation”  towns  of  America.  Extricating  ourselves  with  dif¬ 
ficulty  from  the  Arab  boys  who  seized  our  valises  by  main 
force,  we  soon  found  the  quietest  of  accommodations  in  an 
almost  deserted  hotel. 

Letters  with  which  I  was  furnished  procured  me  an  in¬ 
vitation  to  breakfast  with  M.  de  Lesseps,  the  distinguished 
originator  of  the  Suez  Canal,  a  gentleman  more  familiar 


■ 

_ 


SUEZ  CANAL  AND  EASTERN  EGYPT. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN 


149 


with  that  portion  of  Egypt  than  any  other  man.  At  eleven 
a.m.  I  went  to  his  home,  which  is  situated  among  trees  and 
shrubbery  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  had  an  inter¬ 
esting  and  suggestive  interview  of  two  hours  and  a  half. 
Though  a  man  of  seventy,  he  had  all  the  briskness  of  youth, 
and  his  French  flowed  with  such  lightning-like  rapidity  as 
to  render  it  no  easy  matter  to  follow  him.  lie  had  framed 
a  theory  of  the  Exodus,  which  he  kindly  jotted  down  for 
me  upon  a  map.  Some  of  his  information  was  very  im¬ 
portant,  and  his  views  have  a  special  claim  to  attention  by 
reason  of  his  thorough  familiarity  with  the  region.  And 
although  I  could  not  adopt  his  theory,  I  derived  much  aid 
from  the  facts  he  gave  me,  and  great  pleasure  from  the 
friendly  interview.39 

On  leaving  Ismail  ia  by  rail  for  Suez,  we  soon  struck  the 
line  of  the  Sweet- water  Canal  again.  We  were  now  pass¬ 
ing  out  of  the  Land  of  Goshen.  The  sixtv  miles  from  this 
point  to  Suez  were  through  a  barren,  desolate  country, 


39  The  main  features  of  his  theory  are  these.  He  finds  Raineses  at  Aboo 
Kesheb,  and  Succoth  at  Makfar,  a  few  miles  eastward.  Etham,  if  I  rightly 
follow  his  sketch,  was  on  the  edge  of  the  desert,  nearly  south  from  Succoth. 
The  “turn”  carried  the  Hebrews  north-easterly  to  Pihahiroth,  on  the  western 
border  of  Lake  Timsah,  near  where  M.  de  Lesseps  supposes  Thaumasium  after¬ 
ward  to  have  been.  Baal-Zephon  he  indicates  at  the  high  ridge  of  Serapeum ; 
and  near  this  latter  place,  north  of  the  Bitter  Lakes,  he  locates  the  crossing. 
The  theory  evidently  supposes  a  marshy  or  watery  region,  overflowed  at  times, 
and  difficult  to  cross.  He  regards  the  “chamseen”  from  the  south-east  as 
bearing  an  important  part  in  the  catastrophe — a  wind  which  comes  at  the  time 
of  harvest,  and  is  so  violent  as  to  stop  all  work.  In  connection  with  his  state¬ 
ment,  he  mentioned  several  facts  of  interest,  e.  g. :  that  the  salt  deposit  in  the 
Bitter  Lakes  is  thirty  feet  thick,  with  thin  layers  of  soil  interposed ;  that  he 
had  seen  the  northern  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez  blown  almost  dry ;  and  that  in 
the  region  of  the  Bitter  Lakes  he  himself  once,  while  riding  on  horseback,  be¬ 
came  entangled  in  the  morass,  and  with  difficulty  escaped.  I  may  have  erred 
in  some  details  of  his  theory,  but  the  essential  points  of  it  are  indicated  on  a 
map,  now  lying  before  me,  by  his  own  hand. 


150 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 


which  had  been  wholly  worthless  before  the  canal  was 
made.  “  But  it  was  soon  discovered  that  water  was  all 
that  was  needed  to  make  the  sandy  wastes  really  valua¬ 
ble, ,?4°  and  at  one  time  the  managers  of  the  canal  had  ar- 
ranged  the  plan  of  a  highly  profitable  enterprise  in  the  rec¬ 
lamation  and  sale  of  these  barren  lands.  The  plan  was  in 
some  way  frustrated ;  but  we  passed  through  some  very 
considerable  plantations  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  journey. 
We  soon  came  to  two  marshy  places  filled  with  reeds. 
These  and  others  similar  to  them  have  suggested  the  the¬ 
ory41  which  finds  in  the  name  Pihahiroth  the  meaning, 
“  place  of  reeds,”  and  its  equivalent  in  the  modern  “  Gui- 
bet  el  boos” — somewhere  near  Suez.  Very  soon  the  desert 
took  the  form  of  sandy  downs,  occasionally  showing  small 
trees,  clumps  of  shrubs,  and  tufts  of  vegetation.  These 
gradually  diminished  till  we  arrived  at  Serapeum  (so-called 
from  the  neighboring  ruins  of  a  supposed  temple  of  Sera- 
pis),  after  which  we  passed  another  place  of  reeds,  and  soon 
came  in  sight  of  a  broad  expanse  of  water,  the  Bitter  Lakes, 
where  before  the  opening  of  the  canal  all  was  a  marsh. 
The  cuttings  of  the  canal  here  disclosed  thin  layers  of 
stone  not  more  than  six  inches  thick.  The  edges  of  the 
canal  were  lined  more  or  less  with  evergreens.  From  this 
point  the  darkness  came  on  so  rapidly  that  little  could  be 
seen. 

The  morning  light  in  Suez  (February  5)  offered  a  fine 
view  of  Jebel  Atakah,42  lying  south-west,  on  the  bank  of  the 
Red  Sea,  seemingly  near,  but  some  miles  away.  Its  dark- 
brown  precipitous  sides,  striped  with  two  horizontal  lines 

40  C.  H.  Rockwell,  The  Suez  Canal,  p.  18. 

41  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  i.  796.  Brugsch  also  (L’Exode,  p.  31) 
translates  Hahiroth  “  lagoons  of  papyrus.” 

42  Commonly,  but  questionably,  translated  the  “  Mount  of  Deliverance.” 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN 


151 


of  white  at  nearly  equal  distances  above  and  below,  comes 
down  near  the  water’s  edge  at  its  northern  extremity,  and 
farther  south  seems  to  shut  down  sharply  on  the  sea.  It 
stretched  far  to  the  west,  and  still  beyond  it  could  be  seen 
the  whitish  summits  of  a  lower  range  of  hills.  East  of  us, 
in  the  distance,  rose  the  high  wall  of  Jebel  er  Rahah,  the 
rock  edge  of  the  great  plateau,  the  Desert  et  Till,  of  “  the 
Wandering.”  Close  at  hand  the  dark  waters  of  the  Red 
Sea,  here  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  came  up  to  the  side  of  our 
hotel. 

In  riding  down  to  the  office  of  the  canal  company,  we 
passed  for  some  two  miles  over  a  causeway  or  pier  built 
directly  out  into  the  gulf.  For  more  than  a  mile  along  the 
northern  side  of  this  track,  and  for  nearly  another  mile 
south-easterly,  the  ground  was  laid  bare  by  the  receding 
tide.  It  was  easy  to  recognize  the  south-easterly  passage, 
by  which  the  Arabs  could  cross  at  very  low  stages  of  the 
water  before  the  canal  company  dredged  the  channel  for  its 
steamers.  We  found  the  company’s  engineer,  M.  Mauriac, 
to  whom  I  had  a  letter,  extremely  courteous.  lie  furnish¬ 
ed  me  with  a  drawing  of  the  canal  excavation  (a  longitudi¬ 
nal  section)  from  the  sea  to  the  Bitter  Lakes,  and  arranged 
to  take  us  not  only  about  the  company’s  docks,  but  up  the 
canal  and  about  the  head  of  the  gulf.  Meanwhile,  a 
French  Protestant  in  the  company’s  employ,  who  had  no 
minister  to  call  upon,  sent  a  request  that  I  would  baptize 
his  child.  In  fifteen  minutes  a  pleasant  and  reverent  little 
company  was  gathered  to  witness  the  baptism  of  Gustave 
Henri  Felix  Pelletier;  and  I  am  able  to  testify  that  in  the 
midst  of  the  Red  Sea,  where  the  children  of  Israel  “  were 
baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,”  the  mode 
of  baptism  still  is  by  affusion. 

After  this  M.  Mauriac  took  us  out  in  a  little  gig-steamer 


152 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


in  front  of  Jebel  Atakah,  and  as  far  south  as  lie  ventured 
to  go  in  a  rough  sea.  In  the  afternoon  he  kindly  came 
with  his  miniature  steamer  to  the  hotel,  and  carried  ns  up 
five  or  six  miles  on  the  canal,  that  we  might  see  it  for  our¬ 
selves.  We  landed  at  the  first  station,  about  five  miles  out. 
Back  of  the  station  the  water  was  standing  in  large  pools, 
and  the  station-agent  assured  us  that  within  a  month,  in  a 
high  storm,  the  sea  had  broken  over  far  beyond,  and  that 
the  water  in  the  rear  of  the  station  had  been  two  metres 
(six  and  a  half  feet)  deep.  The  excavation  of  the  canal 
in  this  southern  portion  was  through  a  compact  body  of 
sand.  But  farther  north  it  changes,  as  will  be  mentioned 
in  another  chapter,  and  at  Chaloof  passes  through  thin 
strata  of  solid  rock.  M.  Mauriac  described  the  rock  of 
Chaloof  as  sloping  from  the  south  to  the  north,  and  being 
silicious  and  extremely  hard,  manageable  only  by  powder. 
He  added  that  it  was  rather  a  great  rognon  than  a  true 
bank  or  stratum  (banc  veritable ),  and  lie  mentioned  the  fact 
that  in  this  cutting  were  found  teeth  of  the  fossil  shark. 

A  walk  of  about  half  a  mile  north-westerly  from  Suez 
brought  us  to  Tell  Kholzum,  the  ancient  Clysma.  Its  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  modern  shore  is  regarded  as  sufficient  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  slow  process  by  which  the  breadth  of  the  gulf 
has  been  diminished.43  The  mound  rises  twenty  or  thirty 
feet  above  the  general  level,  and  the  excavations  show  in 
one  place  crude  bricks ;  in  others,  pottery,  charcoal,  bones, 
shells,  and  other  objects — the  remains  of  a  place  which  sent 
a  “bishop”  to  the  council  of  Constantinople.  Looking 
north  from  the  top  of  the  mound,  the  only  object  to  arrest 
the  eye  was  the  heights  of  Chaloof.  On  the  western  side 
of  the  canal  standing  water  could  be  seen  for  a  considera- 


43  Robinson,  i.  71. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN 


153 


ble  distance,  which  had  broken  over  from  the  Red  Sea  in 
the  recent  storm. 

For  two  miles  south-west  of  Suez  the  region  presents  the 
manifest  appearance  of  having  been  filled  in  by  natural 
causes.  It  is  a  formation  of  sand  full  of  sea-shells,  inter¬ 
mixed  with  occasional  thin  deposits  of  salt,  and  showing 
residual  impurities  where  the  salt  has  disappeared.  In 
many  places  there  were  strata  of  salt  in  basins  full  six  feet 
above  the  ordinary  sea-level,  while  in  various  depressions 
the  water  was  just  evaporating  or  evaporated.  The  region 
in  general  lies  considerably  above  the  level  of  high  tide, 
except  when  extraordinarily  raised  by  storms.  The  whole 
surface,  however,  over  a  wide*  extent,  had  evidently  been 
overflowed  in  a  recent  high  wind. 

We  had  ample  leisure  for  such  observations  at  Suez  as 
we  chose  to  make,  being  delayed  there  two  days  in  wait¬ 
ing  for  the  last  preparations  of  our  dragoman.  We  had 
supposed  that  e  very  thing  was  definitely  arranged  before  we 
left  Cairo.  We  had  held  conferences  with  six  or  eight 
dragomans ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  the  man  we  had  looked 
for,  we  had  fixed  upon  Joseph  Tannus,  a  native  of  Beyroot. 
He  proved  to  be  a  competent,  accommodating,  and,  in  the 
main,  an  honest  dragoman.  An  explicit  contract  had  been 
signed  in  the  presence  of  the  American  consul  at  Cairo, 
the  tents  and  equipments  there  inspected,  the  camels  mount¬ 
ed  for  trial  and  dismounted  without  loss  of  dignity  or  equi¬ 
librium,  the  first  payment  had  been  made  in  order  to  pro¬ 
cure  supplies,  and  our  trunks  had  been  sent  round  to  meet 
us  at  Bevroot. 

It  seemed  ridiculous  to  be  contracting  for  hotel-board  on 
a  journey  through  the  desert  where  the  Israelites  went  hun¬ 
gering  and  thirsting,  and  equally  strange  to  be  navigating 
in  a  little  steamer  the  waters  where  the  army  of  Pharaoh 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


was  overwhelmed.  But  modern  custom  has  made  the  style 
of  travel  through  the  desert  inevitable,  and  seems  to  be 
steadily,  and  very  undesirably,  enhancing  the  expenses  of 
the  journey.  The  professional  dragoman  feels  his  standing 
to  be  compromised  by  any  inferior  contract.  And  so  you 
must  have  your  soup,  three  courses  of  meat,  dessert,  fruits, 
and  coffee.  The  journey  has  become  a  costly  luxury.  Our 
contract  was  for  sixty  days  or  more,  and  our  journey  was 
to  take  us  to  Sinai,  with  such  side  explorations  as  we  chose 
to  make,  thence  back  to  the  diverging  place  of  the  north¬ 
ern  and  southern  routes  from  Suez  to  Sinai,  across  the  des¬ 
ert  to  Au kill,  through  the  South  Country  to  and  through 
Palestine.  The  dragoman  ‘was  to  assume,  with  his  other 
responsibilities,  the  payment  of  all  backsheesh,  for  what¬ 
ever  purposes  and  on  whatever  pretext,  and  was  bound  by 
all  the  customary,  and  it  must  be  admitted  somewhat  strin¬ 
gent,  but  necessary  restrictions  and  conditions.  As  we  were 
about  to  plunge  into  a  region  where  for  forty  days  no  news 
of  us,  dead  or  alive,  could  be  conveyed  to  our  friends,  it 
was  an  unspeakable  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  send  from 
Suez,  just  before  our  departure,  a  telegram  which  was  read 
in  Chicago  before  we  were  ten  miles  on  our  way;  and  it 
was  an  equal  satisfaction  at  the  end  of  forty  days  to  let 
them  know  with  equal  promptness  our  safe  arrival  in  Je¬ 
rusalem. 


THE  EXODUS. 


155 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE  EXODUS. 

A  somewhat  general  agreement  of  scholars,  or  at  least 
tendency  to  agreement  on  the  chief  circumstances  of  the 
Exodus,  enables  us  sufficiently  to  reproduce  the  general  feat¬ 
ures  of  that  transaction,  if  we  clo  not  insist  too  rigidly  on 
all  the  details  of  locality.  The  difficulty  of  exactly  identi¬ 
fying  localities,  even  after  the  lapse  of  a  comparatively  few 
vears,  where  no  monument  has  been  erected  and  no  inten- 
tionally  precise  description  given,  is  well  known.  Still 
greater  is  the  difficulty  when  the  interval  is  measured  by 
thousands  of  years,  in  a  land  often  overrun  by  conquest,  as 
well  as  subject  to  changes  of  surface,  and  when  the  actors 
were  a  body  of  men  who  made  no  monuments  on  the  soil, 
and  who  were  taking  their  final  leave  of  the  country.  In¬ 
deed,  had  the  attempt  been  made  at  the  time  to  write  a 
minute  description  of  the  whole  line  of  march,  that  should 
enable  us  exactly  to  trace  it  after  three  thousand  years,  wre 
may  safely  say  that  it  would  have  been  impracticable. 
And  yet,  notwithstanding  the  a  priori  difficulties,  it  is,  on 
the  whole,  surprising  to  see  how  near  an  approach  can  be 
made  to  a  determination  of  the  route  by  which  Israel  went 
up  out  of  Egypt.  The  exceptional  configuration  and  con¬ 
dition  of  the  country  are,  and  always  have  been,  such  as  to 
guide  and  restrict  the  movements  of  large  companies ;  and 
the  ascertainment  of  a  few  places  goes  far  toward  settling 
the  whole  line  of  march. 


156 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE \ 


The  general  situation  of  Goshen  is  conceded.  And 
whatever  question  may  exist  as  to  its  extent,  it  is  agreed 
that  the  wady  Tnmilat  was  a  part  of  it ;  was,  in  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  Schleiden,  “the  kernel  of  it.”  We  may  also  con¬ 
sider  it  an  admitted  fact,  that,  in  accordance  with  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  Aristotle,  Strabo,  and  Pliny,  corroborated  by  the 
evidence  of  ancient  remains,  and  accepted  by  such  writers 


MAP  OP  EASTERN  EGYPT  AND  THE  ROUTE  OF  ISRAEL. 


as  Bunsen,  Brugseh,  Wilkinson,  and  Mariette,  the  canal 
from  the  Nile  ran  along  that  wady. 

I  shall  also  assume  that  the  configuration  of  the  eastern 
limits  of  Egypt  was  substantially  the  same  as  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time,  with  this  modification,  that  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  or 
its  lagoons,  may  have  extended  somewhat  farther  to  the 
north,  and  that  the  region  south  of  the  heights  of  Chaloof 


THE  EXODUS. 


157 


may  since  have  been  filled  in  somewhat  by  the  drifting- 
sands  during  three  thousand  years,  and  may  probably  have 
been  at  that  time  a  marshy  region,  crossed  by  no  highway, 
and  virtually  impassable.  This  general  view  of  the  case  is 
made  quite  probable  by  the  discussion  of  Schleiden.1  It 
has  been  strongly  urged  by  various  writers,  represented  by 
M.  Olivier  Ritt,  Mr.  Poole,  and  others,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  Exodus  the  Red  Sea  extended  as  far  as  the  head  of 
the  Bitter  Lakes,  some  thirty  or  forty  miles  north  of  its 
present  limits.2  For  reasons  which  will  presently  appear,  I 
cannot  accept  that  view.  It  is  incompatible  with  the  geo¬ 
logical  facts  of  the  case,  unless  by  assumptions  which  we 
have  no  riMit  to  make. 

O 

The  Isthmus  of  Suez  at  its  narrowest  part  is  seventy 
miles  wide.3  The  canal,  indeed,  measures  one  hundred 
miles  (164  kilometres)  from  Port  Said  to  Suez,  but  it  does 
not  cross  the  narrowest  place  nor  follow  a  straight  line. 
Following  the  line  of  the  canal  southward,  we  pass  for 
many  miles  through  the  broad  Lake  Menzaleh,  and  reach 
first  a  series  of  sandy  downs,  the  highest  point  of  which  is 
Kantara,  “  the  bridge  ”  between  the  eastern  and  the  west¬ 
ern  deserts.  Here  ran  one  of  the  greatest  thoroughfares  of 
the  world,  the  highway  between  Egypt  and  the  East.  Pass¬ 
ing  next  the  shallow  Lake  Ballali,  we  reach  El  Guisr,  the 
greatest  elevation  on  the  isthmus,  about  ten  miles  in  width, 
and  at  its  highest  point  sixty-five  feet  in  height.  Then 
comes  Lake  Timsah,  the  “  crocodile”  lake,  midway  between 
the  two  seas.  South  of  it  is  the  second  elevation,  the 
heights  of  Serapeum,  about  eight  miles  broad,  and  at  its 


1  Die  Landenge  von  Suez,  von  M.  J.  Schleiden.  Leipzig,  1858. 

2  Histoire  de  l’Isthme  de  Suez,  par  M.  Olivier  Ritt,  second  edition,  Paris,  1869. 
R.  S.  Poole,  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  American  edition,  p.  2690. 

3  Wilkinson  gives  it  at  76  ;  Schleiden,  more  exactly,  at  72  miles. 


158 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


highest  point  sixty- one  feet  high.  South  of  this  lie  the 
Bitter  Lakes,  a  great  depression,  extending  south-easterly 
some  twenty-two  miles  in  length,  and  from  two  and  a  half 
to  five  miles  in  breadth.  Their  greatest  depth  is  about 
thirty-five  feet  below  the  sea-level.  Before  the  water  was 
admitted  in  1867  by  the  modern  canal,  this  depression  was, 
and  had  for  ages  been,  drv.  The  bottom  was  covered  with 
a  layer  or  layers  of  salt  of  great  extent  (seven  miles  by  five) 
and  of  variable  thickness,  but  reaching  the  depth  of  thirty- 
three  feet.4  Between  the  Bitter  Lakes  and  the  Red  Sea 
lies  the  third  and  last  barrier,  the  heights  of  Chaloof,  about 
five  miles  broad  from  north  to  south,  and  rising  for  a  short 
distance  twenty  feet  or  more  above  the  sea-level.  Then  fol¬ 
lows  the  sandy  plain  of  Suez  for  a  distance  of  about  ten 
miles,  rising  but  a  fewT  feet  (about  four  on  the  average) 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Now,  it  may  be  assumed  that  since  the  geological  times 


4  Mr.  C.  H.  Rockwell,  in  a  careful  article  on  “  Suez,”  gives  the  thickness  at 
“from  six  to  twenty  inches.”  But  a  section  drawing  of  the  Suez  Canal  Com¬ 
pany’s  (kindly  furnished  me  in  Suez)  sflows  it  to  be  more  than  thirty  feet.  A  let¬ 
ter  from  M.  Mauriac,  engineer  of  the  company,  now  lying  before  me,  also  gives  it 
at  “  ten  metres.”  He  writes  :  “  The  bank  of  salt  is  divided  by  parallel  and  hori¬ 
zontal  strata  of  six  or  seven  tenths  of  a  metre  in  thickness,  alternating  with  thin 
strata  of  sand  ;  which  shows  that  this  depth  has  been  produced  in  a  long  course 
of  periods,  when  the  sea  at  extraordinary  heights  traversed  the  plateau  and 
swept  into  the  lakes.  Then,  the  sea  returning  to  its  ordinary  limits,  the  evap¬ 
oration  left  a  layer  of  salt,  which  was  afterward  covered  by  a  layer  of  sand 
brought  by  the  chamseenP  M.  Mauriac  adds,  in  another  letter,  that  the  ridge 
of  Chaloof  is  now  far  above  the  highest  known  seas,  and  he  holds,  for  valid 
reasons  presently  to  be  mentioned,  that  this  overflow  could  not  have  taken 
place  during  the  present  geological  condition  of  the  globe.  The  ridge  of  Cha¬ 
loof,  in  his  opinion,  is  of  the  same  age  with  the  mountain  Geneffe,  of  which  it  is 
a  kind  of  buttress  or  prolongation.  And  he  says:  “As  I  think  that  the  level 
of  the  [Red]  sea  has  not  changed  sensibly  since  the  great  revolutions  of  the 
earth  have  ceased,  its  extent  during  the  historic  times  must  have  been  the  same 
as  that  which  existed  previous  to  the  construction  of  the  canal.”  He  rests  his 
opinion  upon  scientific  grounds. 


THE  EXODUS. 


159 


the  lieights  of  Guisr  must  have  formed  an  effectual  barrier 
to  the  Red  Sea ;  and  it  will  hardly  be  claimed,  that  within 
historic  times  these  waters  have  extended  over  the  ridge  of 
Serapeum.  But  some  reasons  have  been  urged  for  suppos¬ 
ing  that  in  the  times  of  the  Exodus  the  Bitter  Lakes  were 
but  part  of  a  continuous  arm  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Three  circumstances  have  been  adduced  for  this  opinion : 
first,  the  deposits  of  salt  found  in.  the  Bitter  Lakes ;  sec¬ 
ondly,  the  identity  of  shells  found  at  the  sides  and  bottom 
of  the  lakes  with  those  of  the  Red  Sea ;  and,  thirdly,  the 
name  “  Bitter  Lakes,”  implying  the  knowledge  of  a  time 
when  they  were  filled  with  salt-water.  But  neither  the  de¬ 
posits  of  salt  nor  of  shells,  unless  the  shells  were  of  mod¬ 
ern  species  (which  is  not  affirmed),  would  determine  the 
question  whether  such  a  connection  existed  during  the  pres¬ 
ent  geological  condition  of  the  earth.  It  is  not  doubted 
that  during  and  before  the  tertiary  period  this  connection 
existed ;  and,  indeed,  many  hold  that  at  some  time  anterior 
the  Red  Sea  and  Mediterranean  were  connected.  The  name 
“Bitter  Lakes”  is  accounted  for  either  by  the  salt  marshes 
which  existed  there  before  the  modem  canal  introduced  the 
sea-water,  or  it  may  point  back  to  an  earlier  time  involved 
in  the  Arab  tradition  (mentioned  by  Robinson),  that  these 
marshes  “  were  made  by  a  canal  cut  thus  far  from  the  Red 
Sea,  and  then  neglected.” 

But  the  decisive  objection  to  the  theory  of  a  connection 
between  the  Red  Sea  and  these  lakes  in  modern  geological 
times  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  impassable  bar  of  Cha- 
loof  is  a  tertiary  formation.  Such  is  the  positive  testimony 
of  Fraas,5  and  of  M.  Mauriac,  the  engineer  of  the  Suez 
Canal  Company,  and  the  admission  of  M.  Ritt.  Not  only 

5  Aus  dem  Orient,  p.  173.  M.  Mauriac’s  statement  is  in  a  personal  letter  to 
the  author. 


1G0 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


does  it  contain  “  chalk  deposits,”  colored  with  red  and 
brown  iron  oxide,  and  hardened  into  a  rock  which  for  lim¬ 
ited  distances  gave  great  trouble  to  the  engineers,  but  in 
the  excavations  were  found  fossil  remains  of  the  tertiary 
period,  as,  for  example,  the  teeth  of  the  ancient  shark, 
Carcharodon  Meyalodon .8  M.  Ritt’s  reply  is  that  this  ridge 
of  Chaloof  was  raised  by  an  earthquake,  its  rocky  banks 
having  mineral ogical  and  antediluvian  marks  not  found  in 
the  vicinity.  General  C.  P.  Stone,  the  Khedive’s  Chief  of 
Staff,  made  to  me  the  same  suggestion.  But,  as  I  under¬ 
stand  M.  Mauriac,  it  is  of  the  same  geological  character  as 
Jebel  Geneffe,  of  which  it  is  a  continuation  or  outlier. 
And  when  both  belong  to  the  same  geological  epoch,  how 
can  wre  assign  a  later  date  to  the  one  ?  Earthquakes  cannot 
be  introduced  without  evidence,  to  help  out  a  theory. 

Secondly,  there  is  apparently  clear  testimony  that  in 
early  times  the  breadth  of  the  isthmus  wTas  substantially  the 
same  as  now.  M.  Ritt  (and  before  him,  Du  Bois-Aime) 
endeavors  ineffectually  to  show  that  it  was  narrower.  He 
cites  the  statement  of  Herodotus  that  “  the  shortest  and 
quickest  passage  from  Mount  Casius  to  the  Gulf  of  Arabia 
is  exactly  a  thousand  furlongs.”7  This,  says  M.  Ritt,  is 
about  one  hundred,  or  exactly  ninety  ,  or  ninety -five  kilo¬ 
metres,  whereas  the  present  breadth  is  one  hundred  and 
forty  kilometres — that  is,  nearly  fifty  kilometres  (thirty-one 
miles)  less  than  it  was  two  thousand  years  ago.  But  the 
figuring  is  incorrect.  It  assumes  a  furlong  (stadium)  of 
only  three  hundred  feet.  But  Herodotus  defines  his  own 
stadium8  as  “six  hundred  feet,”  or  “one  hundred  fathoms,” 
“each  fathom  being  six  feet,  or  four  cubits.”  He  adds,  in 
the  same  sentence,  that  a  cubit  measures  six  palms,  and  a 


6  Fraas,  Aus  dera  Orient,  p.  171.  The  same  information  was  given  to  me 
by  M.  Mauriac.  7  Herodotus,  ii.  158.  8  lb.  ii.  149. 


THE  EXODUS. 


161 


foot  four.  Reckoning  the  furlong,  then,  at  six  (not  three) 
hundred  Greek  feet  (about  six  hundred  and  six  English 
feet),  we  find  the  journey  from  Mount  Casius  to  the  Red 
Sea  to  be  not  ninety- 
five,  but  one  hundred  and 
eighty  -  four  kilometres. 

This  is  even  more  than 
the  present  distance. 

Rut  the  explanation  is 
well  given  by  Sehleiden,‘J 
that  the  distance  men¬ 
tioned  is  not  an  air-line, 
but,  as  the  historian  in¬ 
dicates,  the  “  passage  ” 
or  travelled  distance ; 
and  as  Mount  Casius  lies 
some  thirty  miles  east  of 
the  shortest  line,  and  as 
the  road  would  cross 
Kantara,  and  pass  west 
of  the  Bitter  Lakes,  the 
distance  mentioned  cor¬ 
responds  almost  precisely 
to  the  present  distance 
over  the  same  track.10 

Thirdly,  the  remains  of  the  ancient  canal  leading  north¬ 
ward  from  the  gulf  toward  the  Bitter  Lakes  complete  the 

9  Die  Landenge  von  Suez,  p.  29. 

10  Schleiden  (Die  Landenge  von  Suez,  pp.  30,  31)  cites  another  passage  from 
Herodotus,  giving  the  same  measurement ;  also  Strabo  (xi.  i.  5,  6),  who  gives 
the  distance  from  Pelusium  to  the  gulf  (a  shorter  distance)  as  “  not  more  than 
a  thousand  furlongs,”  and  again  (xvii.  i.  21),  more  precisely,  as  “nine  hundred 
stadia.”  Pliny,  Ptolemy,  and  the  Iter  Antoninum  all  approximate  to  these  fig¬ 
ures,  and  show  a  breadth  certainly  no  less  than  at  present. 

11 


MAP  OP  THE  RED  SEA  CROSSING,  SHOWING 
VARIOUS  THEORIES. 


162 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


evidence.  They  show  that  in  ancient  times,  as  in  modern, 
the  connection  was  an  artificial  one.  Bnrckhardt  recog¬ 
nized  the  line  of  the  canal  long  ago,  and  Biippell  travelled 
for  an  hour  and  a  half  along  its  bed,  where  it  was,  as  he 
judged,  one  hundred  feet  broad.  Herodotus  distinctly  de¬ 
scribes  the  course  of  this  canal  in  his  day  as  leading  east¬ 
ward  from  Bubastis,  near  Patumos,  and  skirting  the  base  of 
the  hills,  till  it  “  turns  southward  and  enters  the  Arabian 
Gulf.”11  He  affirms  that  this  southern  connection  was  com¬ 
pleted  by  Darius,  and  a  stone  bearing  the  name  of  that 
monarch,  in  Persian  characters,12  near  the  terminus  of  the 
canal,  sustains  his  statement,  and  carries  us  back  nearly  five 
hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era.  Of  course,  the 
construction  of  the  canal  disproves  the  natural  extension  of 
the  gulf  to  the  Bitter  Lakes  at  that  time. 

We  may  assume,  till  positive  evidence  is  adduced  to  the 
contrary,  that  as  in  the  time  of  Darius  so  in  that  of  Moses, 
the  Bed  Sea  did  not  connect  with  the  Bitter  Lakes,  but 
that  the  ridge  of  Chaloof,  rising  far  above  the  highest 
known  seas,  and  sending  off  a  branch  northerly  and  north¬ 
westerly  to  form  the  western  bank  of  the  Bitter  Lakes,  and 
to  join  the  eastern  slope  of  Jebel  Geneffb,  was  then,  as  now, 
an  impassable  barrier.  At  the  same  time,  the  appearances 
about  Suez,  the  constant  drifting  of  the  sands,  and  the 
present  low  level  of  the  plain,  would  justify  the  belief  that 
the  gulf  may  have  extended  somewhat  farther  north  than 
at  present.  Schleiden  may  be  right  in  supposing  that  the 
whole  distance,  if  we  except  the  heights  of  Chaloof,  was 
more  marshy  than  now,  and  probably  untravelled,  if  not 
impassable.  He  urges  that  from  the  time  of  Herodotus  to 
the  Iter  Antoninum  there  is  no  indication  of  a  road  across 


11  Herodotus,  ii.  158. 


12  Rawlinson’s  Herodotus,  ii.  205,  note. 


THE  EXODUS. 


163 


the  isthmus  south  of  the  Bitter  Lakes;  but  there  is  in  cer¬ 
tain  definite  enumerations  a  noticeable  omission  of  any 
such  route,  and  that,  particularly  in  the  Peutinger  tables, 
the  southernmost  route  crosses  north  of  these  lakes.  The 
average  level  of  the  plain  of  Suez  is  but  about  four  feet 
above  the  mean  level  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  fully  two  feet 
below  the  highest  known  seas.  I  have  already  mentioned, 
that  after  a  high  wind  and  storm  I  saw  the  water  standing 
in  low  grounds,  five  or  six  miles  north  of  Suez,  along  the 
line  of  the  canal,  and  was  informed  on  the  spot  that  it  had 
recently  been  six  feet  deep ;  and  I  was  told  by  M.  de  Les- 
seps,  that  in  extraordinary  storms,  once  in  fifteen  or  twenty 
years,  it  is  driven  far  north.13  It  is,  therefore,  not  improb¬ 
able  that  in  earlier  times  the  region  between  Chaloof  and 

13  I  will  cite  the  words  of  M.  Antoine  de  Mauriac,  of  Suez,  engineer  of  the 
Maritime  Canal  Company,  from  a  personal  letter  :  “  Les  vents  predominants  sont 
eeux  du  nord  et  du  nord-ouest;  mais  ceux  du  sud-est  sont  les  plus  terribles. 
Combines  avec  l’effet  des  marees,  ils  peuvent  arnener  a  la  cote  (20.00)  le  niveau 
des  plus  hautes  mers  de  syzygie,  qui  par  les  temps  calmes  n’arrivent  qu’  a  19.50 
metres.  [The  “  repere  du  Quai  de  Suez”  is  20.00.] 

“  La  plaine  de  Suez  est  environ  a  1.30  m.  au  dessus  du  niveau  moyen  de  la 
Mer  Rouge  [18.36].  II  y  a  quelques  points  plus  bas,  comme  il  y  en  a  d’autres 
plus  eleves,  mais  ces  derniers  n’atteigirent  point  la  cote  (20.00)  des  plus  hautes 
mers  connues. 

“  Le  seuil  de  Chaloof,  en  courant  vers  l’est  *\  travers  la  plaine  de  Suez,  laisse 
au  nord  une  queue  qui  contourne  la  rive  occidentale  des  Lacs  Amers ;  puis 
il  dirige  sa  tete  vers  le  Geneffe  pour  former  un  contrefort  <\  la  montagne. 
Le  seuil  de  Chaloof,  qui  se  trouve  environ  i\  cinq  metres  au  dessus  des  plus 
hautes  mers  connues,  ne  conserve  pas  cependant  cette  altitude  dans  son  par- 
cours  k  travers  le  canal  d’eau  douce  et  le  chemin  de  fer.  Il  y  a  la  une  certaine 
depression  relative,  depression  qui  est,  toutefois,  bien  superieure  au  niveau  des 
plus  hautes  mers  connues. 

“  Il  suit  de  tout  ceci  que  la  separation  est  complete  entre  les  Lacs  Amers  et  la 
Mer  Rouge,  et  que  les  eaux  que  vous  avez  pu  remarquer,  soit  au  [kilometre] 
152,  soit  au  153,  sont  des  eaux  provenant,  soit  de  la  Mer  Rouge,  soit  des  Lacs 
Amers,  par  suite  de  la  presence  du  Canal  Maritime. 

“  Le  terrain  de  Chaloof  me  parait  etre  de  l’epoque  tertiaire.  Il  n’y  a  done 
cu  communication  des  lacs  avec  la  Mer  Rouge  que  dans  les  temps  prehisto- 
riques.” 


164 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  present  head  of  the  Red  Sea  may  have  been  a  marshy 
region,  and  that  the  lagoons  north  of  Suez  may  have  ex- 
tended  beyond  their  present  limits.  While  the  more  im¬ 
passable  condition  of  the  plain  north  of  Suez,  if  admitted, 
might  help  to  explain  the  “  entanglement”  of  the  Israelites, 
the  fact  that  the  sea  clearly  did  not  extend  to  the  Bitter 
Lakes  would  cut  off  one  or  two  theories  of  the  Exodus ;  for 
example,  that  of  M.  Ritt,  who  supposes  the  crossing  to  have 
taken  place  at  Chaloof,  and  that  of  M.  de  Lesseps,  who 
places  it  still  farther  north,  near  Serapeum.  For  it  was  not 
a  crossing  of  marshes  or  of  land  elevations,  but  of  the  sea. 

We  can  now  follow  the  Exodus.  Since  the  Egyptian 
kings  at  this  period  spent  a  part  of  their  time  at  Memphis 
and  a  part  at  Zoan,  and  since  the  latter  was  apparently  in 
Goshen  and  the  former  was  not,  it  is  probable  that  the 
communications  of  Moses  with  Pharaoh  took  place  at  Zoan 
or  San.  The  elders  of  the  people  at  times  were  associated 
with  him.14  The  people  would  seem  to  have  remained  at 
their  employments,  chiefly  agricultural  and  pastoral,  over 
the  land  of  Goshen.  It  is  stated  or  implied  six  times  in 
fifteen  verses15  that  they  marched  not  alone  from  Raineses 
but  from  “  Egypt,”  and  the  expression  “  hosts,”  twice  used, 
permits,  if  not  suggests,  the  supposition  that  they  moved 
in  many  companies.  We  may  imagine  them  as  gathering 
at  various  convenient  points  to  join  the  general  move¬ 
ment.  Incidental  allusions  also  imply  that  in  the  subse- 
cpient  march  through  the  wilderness  they  may  be  conceived 
of,  not  as  massed  in  one  solid  body,  but  spread  widely 
out,  as  convenience  might  require.10  For  Amalek  “smote 
the  hindmost  part  of  them,  even  all  that  were  feeble  be- 


14  Exod.  iv.  29-31. 

15  Exod.  xii.  37-51.  “Armies,”  v.  51,  same  word  as  “hosts,”  v.  41. 

16  This  is  Ewald’s  view  (Geschiclite,  ii.  279). 


THE  EXODUS. 


165 


hind;”17  and  on  one  occasion  the  ark  went  three  days’  jour¬ 
ney  in  advance.18  In  the  record  of  inarches  and  encamp¬ 
ments  we  may  properly  understand  that  the  movement  of 
the  head-quarters  is  specifically  intended.  The  whole  com¬ 
pany  may  have  spread,  as  an  Arab  encampment  or  a  mod¬ 
ern  army  often  does,  over  an  area  of  many  miles.  The 
first  two  verses  of  Exodus  xvi.  would  not  unnaturally  be 
understood  as  implying  that  they  proceeded  in  detach¬ 
ments,  and  were  first  assembled  as  a  complete  host  when 
they  came  unto  the  Wilderness  of  Sin.  In  the  march  through 
Sinai  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  all  followed  exact¬ 
ly  the  same  route.  They  are  spoken  of  somewhat  general¬ 
ly  as  in  the  mountains.19 

At  their  departure,  only  the  final  movement,  the  actual 
start,  was  made  in  haste.  All  before  was  deliberately  ar¬ 
ranged.  The  leader  was  a  man  of  training,  experience, 
and,  when  tried  by  whatever  standard,  of  singular  ca¬ 
pacity  and  energy.  He  had  twice  gone  over  the  line  of 
march.  Before  his  return  to  Egypt,  he  had  been  told  that 
he  was  to  lead  his  nation  to  Mount  Horeb,20  and  had  had 
ample  opportunity  to  inform  himself  concerning  the  route. 
His  return  to  Egypt  had  been  previously  announced  there, 
his  mission  made  known  to  Aaron,  and  immediately  af¬ 
ter  to  the  “  elders  ” — and  then  to  the  people.21  Then  fol¬ 
lowed  protracted  discussions  with  Pharaoh,  and  a  series  of 
miracles,  occupying  in  the  prediction  and  performance  a 
considerable  interval.  The  first  of  the  ten  plagues  covered 
a  week.22  All  these  transactions  were  a  constant  assurance 
of  the  coming  departure,  and  a  reminder  to  be  ready.  As 
the  crisis  drew  near,  a  definite  time  was  set,  the  fourteenth 
of  the  month,  and  was  announced  some  time  between  the 


17  Deut.  xxv.  18. 
20  Exod.  iii.  12. 


18  Numb.  x.  33. 

21  Exod.  iv.  27-31. 


19  Exod.  xxxii.  12. 
22  Exod.  vii.  25. 


166 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


first  and  the  tenth,23  giving  at  least  five  days’  immediate  no¬ 
tice.  Opportunity  was  afforded  for  the  thorough  organiza¬ 
tion  which  is  disclosed  upon  the  march,  and  which  appears, 
indeed,  in  the  early  statement  that  they  went  up  out  of 
Egypt  “  harnessed that  is,  taking  the  Hebrew  word  at  its 
lowest,  in  orderly  array.24  Timely  word  had  long  before 
been  given  to  Moses25  for  the  arrangement  whereby  the  Is¬ 
raelites  asked  (not  “  borrowed  ”)  and  received  jewelry  and 
garments,26  the  most  portable  property  to  take  with  them. 
This,  we  learn,  was  cheerfully  given  by  the  Egyptians,  and 
was  but  a  partial  equivalent  for  the  vast  amount  of  im¬ 
provements  and  unportable  values  which  the  Israelites  left 
behind  them. 

* 

The  hour  at  length  arrived.  Crushed  by  the  hand  of 
God,  Pharaoh  rose  in  the  night  and  yielded  everything  that 
had  been  asked.  “  Go,  serve  the  Lord,  as  ye  have  said. 
Also,  take  all  your  flocks  and  herds,  as  ye  have  said,  and  be 
gone.”  One  can  almost  hear  the  choking  voice  with  which 
he  adds,  “  And  bless  me  also.”  The  Egyptians  were  ur¬ 
gent  upon  the  people,  “and  hurried  them  forth  at  mid¬ 
night.”  To  Raineses  the  hosts  converged  from  all  Goshen. 
It  lay  directly  on  their  way  eastward,  not  more  than  sixteen 
miles  from  the  northern  extremity  of  Lake  Timsah.27  Two 
days’  march,  probably  short,  bring  them  successively  to 
Succoth  and  Etharn.  We  need  not  look  for  any  means  of 
exactly  identifying  these  two  places,  the  first  of  which  sig¬ 
nifies  “  booths,”  or  tents,  and  may  designate  no  more  than 
a  camping-ground,  and  the  second  is  vaguely  described  as 
“  in  the  edge  of  the  wilderness.”28 

23  Exod.  xii.  3,  6.  24  Exod.  xiii.  18. 

25  Exod.  iii.  21.  26  Exod.  xii.  35,  36. 

27  The  shortest  distance  was  two  or  three  miles  less. 

28  De  Rouge  (Recherches,  p.  10)  finds  evidence  of  a  district,  Sechet  or  Sochot, 


THE  EXODUS. 


167 


Two  different  views  exist  concerning  the  direction  in 
which  these  places  lay  from  Raineses.  They  hinge  on  the 
force  of  the  word  “'turn”  (Numb,  xxxiii.  7  ;  Exod.  xiv.  2), 
as  well,  perhaps,  as  upon  the  time  when  the  direction  to 
turn  was  given.  The  narrative  in  Exodus  and  in  Numbers 
implies  that  the  change  of  direction  took  place  on  reaching 
Etham ;  and  the  previous  statement  (Exod.  xiii.  17-19),  that 
God  led  the  people  not  by  the  land  of  the  Philistines, 
though  it  was  near,  but  by  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea, 
may  be  understood  as  a  general  preliminary  description  of 
the  route,  referring  to  this  very  movement.  It  is  difficult 
to  understand  the  strong  Hebrew  word  “  turn  ”  in  the 
sense  of  merely  a  slight  deviation.  It  commonly  means  to 
turn  back,  or  certainly  more  than  a  simple  deflection.29  If, 
now  (with  Robinson,  Keil,  Knobel,  and  others),  we  find 
these  places  south-east  of  Rameses  in  the  direct  line  toward 
the  head  of  the  Red  Sea,30  we  vacate  the  word  of  its  usu¬ 
al  meaning.  And,  moreover,  if  the  children  of  Israel  at 
Etham  were  within  a  day’s  march  of  the  sea  when  Pha¬ 
raoh  received  intelligence  that  they  were  “shut  in  by 
the  wilderness,”  and  prepared  to  follow  them,  they  would 
have  had  ample  time  to  escape  before  he  could  overtake 
them. 

We  best  meet  the  requirements  of  the  narrative  if  we 


in  Chufu’s  time,  in  Lower  Egypt.  Brugsch  (L’Exode  et  les  Monuments)  finds  a 
district,  Suchut,  or  Suchot,  or  Thukut,  with  which  he  would  sustain  his  peculiar 
theory  of  the  Exodus.  He  would  derive  Etham  from  an  Egyptian  word,  “  for¬ 
tress.” 

29  It  is  too  strong  an  assertion  to  say  (with  Lange)  that  “  the  word  uniformly 
means  to  turn  back,  return.”  In  Joshua  xix.  it  is  used  four  times  for  the  turn¬ 
ing  of  a  boundary  line  (vs.  12,  27,  29,  34).  But  this  is  a  marked  change  of 
direction.  Ewald  insists  on  the  full  meaning  of  the  word  in  Exodus. 

30  Kurtz,  Knobel,  and  others  place  Etham  at  Serapeum,  north  of  the  west  end 
of  the  Bitter  Lakes ;  Robinson,  Keil,  and  others,  a  little  south  of  those  lakes,  in 
the  direction  of  the  Red  Sea. 


168 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


suppose  Etliam  to  have  been  beyond  the  eastern  end  of 
Wady  Tumilat,  toward  Palestine,  and  not  far  from  the 
northern  end  of  Lake  Timsah.  It  would  thus  lie  on  “  the 

edge  of  the  desert 
that  is,  on  the  line 
where  Egypt  ends  and 
the  Arabian  desert  be¬ 
gins.31  It  would  be 
where  the  way  was 
open  before  Israel,  ei¬ 
ther  to  pass  over  the 
heights  of  Guisr,  or 
to  strike  northward 
into  the  main  road  to 

the  Philistine  territory 

«/ 

and  to  Palestine.  The 
command  at  that  place, 
to  move  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  Suez,  would  in¬ 
deed  he  an  order  to 
“  turn  back.”  The  time 
required  to  reach  the 
head  of  the  sea  after 
the  change  of  direc¬ 
tion,  would  be  suffi¬ 
cient  to  convey  the  intelligence  to  Pharaoh,  and  to  enable 
his  army  to  overtake  them  at  that  spot.32 

The  instruction  given  to  the  Israelites  was,  “  that  thev 


THE  NORTHERN  END  OF  THE  GULF  OF  SUEZ - 

FROM  THE  MAP  OF  THE  MARITIME  CANAL  COM¬ 
PANY. 


31  Mr.  Poole  finds  it  at  Pir-Seba,  a  little  west  of  Lake  Timsah ;  Lesseps,  on  the 
lake ;  Canon  Cook,  near  its  southern  extremity  ;  Ewald,  apparently  just  north  of 
it ;  Ebers,  north-east  of  it,  on  the  line  of  the  Egyptian  fortifications. 

32  The  author  formerly  accepted  Dr.  Robinson’s  view  of  the  location  of  Etham, 
but  has  felt  constrained  to  abandon  it. 


THE  EXODUS. 


169 


turn  and  encamp  before  Pihahiroth,  between  Migdol  and 
the  sea,  over  against  Baal-Zephon;  before  it  shall  ye  en¬ 
camp  by  the  sea.”  Pihahiroth  is  written  in  Numbers  “  Ha- 
hiroth,”  giving  some  support  to  the  opinion  that  the  syl¬ 
lable  “  pi  ”  is  only  the  Egyptian  article,  and  that  the  es¬ 
sential  word  is  Ilahiroth.  There  seems,  on  the  whole,  to 
be  good  reason  for  finding  Ilahiroth  at  Ajrood.  It  is  the 
view  of  Jablonsky,  Laborde,  Winer,  Kurtz,  Keii,  Knobel, 
Ebers,  Sharpe,  and  apparently  of  Lange  and  Ewald.  The 
name  Plahiroth,  as  they  have  shown,  corresponds  in  its  con¬ 
sonant  elements  very  closely  to  Ajrood.  This  name  is 

certainlv  as  old  as  the  twelfth  centurv.  Other  reasons 
«/  «/ 

concur.  The  situation  and  circumstances  well  correspond. 
The  distance  from  the  sea,  four  hours  north-west  of  Suez, 
is  suitable.  A  large  plain,  adapted  to  an  encampment, 
ten  miles  long  and  nearly  as  broad,  stretches  to  the  sea. 
This  camping-ground  lies  in  front,  or,  as  the  Hebrew 
might  be  translated,  east  of  the  place.  A  deep  well  (two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet),  though  containing  bitter  water, 
must  have  made  the  spot  a  place  of  mark  in  former  as 
in  recent  times.  A  fortress  stands  there  now.  These  sev¬ 
eral  circumstances  will  satisfy  the  conditions. 

There  is  less  to  determine  the  sites  of  Migdol  and  Baal- 
Zeplion,  with  much  confidence.  “Migdol”  means  fort  or 
tower,  and  might  designate  simply  a  fortified  place.  Nie¬ 
buhr  first  suggested  for  it  Bir-Suweis,  two  miles  from 
Suez,  where  there  are  two  wells  of  very  brackish  water, 
and  a  massive  stone  building  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Kalisch  favors  it;  and  Canon  Cook,  in  view  of  an  investi¬ 
gation  by  Chabas,  showing  that  “Maktal,”or  Magdal,  which 
Seti  I.  visited  on  his  return  from  Syria,  was  built  over  a 
well,  thinks  there  is  “scarcely  any  room  for  doubt.”  We 
may  accept  it  as  a  very  suitable  conjecture. 


170 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Baal-Zeplion  is  placed  by  Josephus,33  whatever  may  have 
been  his  means  of  information,  on  the  Red  Sea.  If  the 
general  locality  of  the  crossing  be  rightly  determined  in 
this  discussion,  then  Jebel  Atakali,  south-west  of  Suez,  is 
too  prominent  a  feature  of  the  landscape,  and  too  impor¬ 
tant  in  its  relations  to  the  line  of  march,  to  be  easily  over¬ 
looked.  It  is  questionable  whether  its  name  properly  means, 
as  has  often  been  alleged,  the  “mountain  of  deliverance.” 
But  it  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  of  Ebers34  and  others,  and 
one  that  seems  to  be  growing  in  favor,  that  Baal-Zeplion 
may  have  been  Jebel  Atakali. 

The  facts  already  stated  may  enable  us,  if  not  to  de¬ 
termine  the  exact  place  of  crossing  the  sea,  yet  to  restrict 
it  within  certain  limits.  The  modern  theory  of  Schleiden, 
recently  revived  with  much  learning  by  Brugseh,  that  the 
Israelites  did  not  cross  the  Red  Sea,  but  the  Serbonian 
bog,  in  the  extreme  north-east  of  Egypt,  derives  its  chief 
importance  from  the  eminence  and  ability  of  its  latest  ad¬ 
vocate.  It  is  directly  in  conflict  with  the  narrative  which 
it  proposes  to  explain.  The  Scriptures  say  it  was  the  Red 
Sea.  Schleiden  first  alleged  that  this  statement  was  in 
the  Jehovistic,  and  not  in  the  Elohistic,  portion  of  Gen¬ 
esis,  and  might,  therefore,  be  set  aside.  But  if  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  such  a  distinction  be  recognized,  Exodus  xiii.  18, 
in  which  the  statement  occurs,  is  Elohistic.  The  next 
argument  was,  that  the  name  Red  Sea  (“sea  of  reeds,” 
yam  swph)  designated,  not  this  sea,  but  the  shallow,  reedy 
lakes  in  the  north-east  of  Egypt.  But  this  position  can¬ 
not  stand.  The  Septuagint  version  overthrows  it.  This 
version  was  completed  in  Egypt  two  hundred  years  be¬ 
fore  Christ,  by  a  body  of  learned  Jews  at  the  centre 


33  Antiquities,  ii.  151. 


34  Durch  Gosen,  p.  511. 


THE  EXODUS. 


171 


of  Egyptian  learning,  while  the  hieroglyphics  were  still 
in  use,  and  while  the  Hebrew  was  essentially  a  living 
language.  And  this  version  everywhere  gives  the  yam, 
sujph ,  in  unmistakable  Greek,  as  the  Bed  Sea.  It  would 
seem  idle  to  advance  a  modern  theory  in  the  face  of  such 
testimony.  Besides  this  fundamental  defect,  there  are  sub¬ 
ordinate  difficulties.  Mr.  Birch  significantly  remarks,  that 
u  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  the  Scriptural  account  of  the 
time  occupied  in  the  transit,  as  well  as  that  of  allowing 
the  philological  connection  of  some  of  the  Hebrew  and 
Egyptian  names,  have  caused  this  brilliant  discovery  not 
to  be  universally  admitted  by  those  who  have  studied  the 
antiquities  of  Egypt  or  Biblical  geography.”  It  may  be 
added  that  the  theory  required  the  identification  of  Ba¬ 
ineses  with  Zoan,  transferring  it  some  forty  miles  north  of 
the  valley  in  which,  in  his  previous  works,  Brugsch  had 
most  positively  fixed  it,  from  “  the  monuments”  and  by 
“  the  inscriptions.”35  The  identification  of  these  two  cities,  [ 
Bameses  and  Zoan,  seems  incompatible  with  the  use  of  both 
names  in  the  Scriptures,  and  in  the  same  book  (e.  <7.,  Num¬ 
bers),  without  a  hint  of  their  identity.  It  seems  also  in  con¬ 
flict  with  the  statement36  that  “  Hebron  was  built  seven 
years  before  Zoan  of  Egypt;”  whereas  Hebron  existed  be¬ 
fore  the  time  of  Abraham,  but  the  Bameses  of  Exodus 
(i.  11)  was  not  built  till  near  the  time  of  the  Exodus.37  We 
therefore  dismiss  it. 


35  Brugsch,  Histoire  d’Egypte,  third  edition,  p.  156.  Aus  dem  Orient,  part 
ii-  p.  35.  36  Numb.  xiii.  22. 

37  The  Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  January,  1875,  contains  an  able  refutation  of  this 
theory  by  Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson.  He  intimates  that  Lepsius  and  other  German 
Egyptologists  do  not  concur  in  the  views  of  Brugsch.  Dr.  Thompson  makes  the 
additional  objections  that — (1)  this  theory  locating  Raineses  at  Zoan  would  re¬ 
quire  the  Israelites  first  to  march  a  long  distance  away  from  their  destination  to 
the  place  of  rendezvous,  to  cross  the  Pelusiac  arm  of  the  Nile,  and  then  to  recross 


172 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  opinion  of  Yon  Raniner,  Lengerke,  and  others  (in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  tradition  of  the  Peninsular  Arabs),  that 
the  crossing  took  place  south  of  Jebel  Atakah,  seems  also  un¬ 
tenable.  A  fundamental  objection  is  the  impracticability  of 
their  getting  there.  The  mountains  shut  down  to  the  sea¬ 
shore,  leaving  room  only  for  a  narrow  foot-path,  and  the 
chain  of  which  it  forms  a  part  sweeps  westward  many  miles, 
precluding  the  passage  of  such  a  host  round  it  either  way. 
“  Ras  Atakah,”  says  Bonar,  “  maintains  its  full  height  for 
some  twelve  miles,  and  then  drops  down  from  Suez,  leaving 
not  a  foot  of  land  for  a  passage.”38  This  statement  is  some¬ 
what  too  strong.  M.  de  Mauriac  says  that  “  it  is  possible  to 
go  on  foot  southward  along  the  sea-coast  by  Jebel  Atakah,” 
and  the  canal  company’s  map  shows  a  route  from  Cairo  to 
Suez  following  this  very  line.  But  that  such  a  host  should 
have  made  their  way  along  this  foot-path,  and  been  followed 
by  Pharaoh’s  chariots,  may  be  fairly  considered  out  of  the 
question.  There  has  been  a  theory  advanced  by  some  few 
that  they  marched  east  from  Heliopolis,  and  leaving  the  pil¬ 
grim  route,  passed  through  wadies  Ramliyeh  and  Tawarik 
and  struck  the  sea  south  of  Jebel  Atakah.  But,  among  other 

it  next  day,  a  process  sufficiently  improbable ;  (2)  that  the  supposed  route  would 
take  them  on  the  most  direct  way  toward  the  Philistines,  contrary  to  the  express 
statement  of  Exodus  xiii.  17;  (3)  that  the  leading  of  an  army  into  the  treacher¬ 
ous  Serbonian  bog  (where  Artaxerxes  lost  a  great  part  of  his  army),  when  there 
was  a  military  road  and  great  thoroughfare  south  of  it,  is  a  strategetical  blunder 
not  supposable  in  Moses,  much  less  in  Egyptian  generals  who  were  accustomed 
to  the  whole  region,  having  frequently  led  their  armies  to  the  east. 

Rev.  William  Turner  (Studies,  Biblical  and  Oriental,  Edinburgh,  1876)  objects 
still  further,  that  the  safe  passage  over  a  tract  of  land  which  was  liable  to  be 
swept  by  the  tide  does  not  at  all  meet  the  representations  of  the  Scriptural  nar¬ 
rative.  He  dwells  also  on  the  inadequate  explanation  of  the  “  turning.”  Both 
Mr.  Turner  and  Dr.  Thompson  insist  on  the  collision  between  this  theory  and 
the  unmistakable  Scripture  designation  of  the  Red  Sea.  This  last  objection 
is  so  decisive,  and  the  testimony  of  the  seventy  so  overwhelming  to  show  that 
the  Sea  of  Reeds  is  certainly  the  Red  Sea,  that  we  may  rest  upon  it  as  sufficient 
of  itself.  38  The  Desert  of  Sinai,  p.  79. 


THE  EXODUS. 


173 


objections,  this  assigns  a  wrong  starting-point,  and  an  utter¬ 
ly  improbable,  if  not  impossible,  line  of  march  for  such  a 
host ;  and  not  only  takes  them,  in  the  outset,  wholly  away 
from  Goshen,  but  places  Etham,  not  on  the  edge,  but  in  the 
middle,  of  the  wilderness.  It  also  places  the  passage  where 
the  sea  is  fifteen  miles  broad,  and  where  such  a  host  could 
hardly  have  crossed  after  “  the  night  ”  had  set  in,  and  by 
“the  morning  watch.”39 

The  question  concerning  the  number  of  the  Israelites  has 
occasioned  no  little  discussion.  Reckoning  from  the  basis 
of  “six  hundred  thousand  on  foot  that  were  men,  besides 
children  ”  (Exod.  xii.  37),  it  has  commonly  been  given  at 
two  or  two  and  a  half  millions.  Dean  Milman  sets  it  as 
high  as  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  millions,40  but  suggests 
in  a  note41  that  there  may  be  an  error  of  the  text.  This  last 
opinion  has  been  not  unfrequently  advanced.  But  such 
writers  as  Ewald  and  Bunsen,  who  treat  the  text  with  the 
utmost  freedom,  set  the  supposition  summarily  aside,  and 
pronounce  this  number  “  historical.”42  Indeed,  the  corre¬ 
spondence  of  the  details,  given  in  various  places,  furnishes 
a  series  of  counter-checks,  and  renders  it  impracticable  to 
escape  the  difficulty  by  supposing  an  error  of  the  text.  It  is 
a  complete  whole,  mutually  self-confirmatory.  Yet  Ebers43 
declares  the  number  to  be  “  mythical affirms  that  “  the 
desert  never  could  have  supported  six  hundred  thousand ; 
they  never  could  have  gained  their  whole  subsistence  from 
the  products  of  the  peninsula.”  These  arbitrary  denials  of 

39  Kurtz,  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,  ii.  378. 

40  History  of  the  Jews,  book  ii.  41  lb.  book  iv. 

42  Ewald  says  (Geschichte,  ii.  278,  second  edition):  “We  see  already  that  all 
these  numbers  must  be  taken  from  ancient  tables  of  taxation.”  Bunsen  says 
(Egypt’s  Place,  v.  73)  that  “  the  number,  two  millions  and  a  half,  results  from 
contemporary  records,  and  is  strictly  historical.” 

43  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  p.  533. 


174 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  numbers  must  go  for  what  they  are  worth,  especially  as 
the  narration  informs  us  most  distinctly  and  constantly  that 
the  people  did  not  “  gain  their  whole  subsistence  from  the 
products  of  the  peninsula.”  More  deserving  of  considera¬ 
tion  are  some  explanations  which  admit  the  correctness  of 
the  figures,  and  endeavor  to  show  that  they  do  not  neces¬ 
sitate  so  large  a  total  as  the  common  estimate.  Thus,  Dr. 
A.  Benisch44  would  reduce  the  total  to  sixteen  or  eighteen 
hundred  thousand,  on  the  ground  that  “men  on  foot”  com¬ 
prised  many  more  than  simply  those  fit  for  military  duty. 
And  W.  B.  Galloway45  would  bring  down  the  sum  total  to 
three-quarters  of  a  million.  His  argument  is,  that  the  num¬ 
ber  given  in  the  text  is  not  besides  women,  but  only  “  be¬ 
sides  the  children and  he  endeavors  to  maintain  that  the 
Hebrew  word  rendered  “  men”  though  often  used  for 

males,  is  not  exclusive  of  the  other  sex,  but  means  persons.46 
He  supposes  that  the  women  must  have  gone  “on  foot”  of 
course.  He  also  reasons  that,  on  account  of  Pharaoh’s  mur¬ 
derous  policy,  “  it  is  sufficient  to  reckon  those  under  twenty 
as  one-fourth  or  one-fifth  of  the  whole  number.”  But  the 
difficulty  is  to  show  that  the  Hebrew  term,  though  sometimes 
used  like  our  word  “  man  ”  where  some  general  proposition 
is  true  of  any  human  being,  is  ever  employed  in  an  enumer¬ 
ation  of  persons,  to  include  women.  It  may  also  be  added, 
that  even  the  smallest  number  thus  attained  could  hardly 
have  made  their  way  through  the  wilderness  without  some 
such  extraordinary  provision  as  the  Scriptures  affirm.  One 
million  is  as  really  unmanageable  as  two.  And  this  latter 
number,  in  the  absence  of  better  light,  may  be  considered 
as  an  approximation  to  the  facts.  Dr.  Bobinson47  has  esti- 

44  The  Exodus  of  Israel,  p.  203.  45  Egypt’s  Record  of  Time,  p.  520. 

46  He  refers  to  Josh.  vii.  14, 17,  18 ;  Prov.  xx.  24  ;  Job  xiv.  10,  etc. 

47  Researches,  i.  85. 


THE  EXODUS. 


175 


mated  that  sucli  a  number,  marching  one  thousand  abreast, 
would  form  a  column  half  a  mile  in  width  and  two  miles 
in  length  ;  and,  moving  at  the  slow  rate  of  two  miles  an 
hour,  would  require  a  whole  hour  to  enter  the  sea,  and  two 
hours  more  to  pass  through  its  bed,  if  it  were  four  miles  wide. 

Returning  now  to  the  question  of  the  locality  of  the  Red 
Sea  passage,  and  leaving  out  of  the  account,  as  incompati¬ 
ble  with  the  narration,  the  passage  along  the  Serbonian  bog 
instead,  and  as  impracticable  the  theory  which  supposes  the 
crossing  to  have  been  south  of  Jebel  Atakali,  wTe  still  meet 
some  diversity  of  opinion.  Thus,  M.  de  Lesseps,  whose 
opinion  certainly  deserves  respectful  mention  because  of 
the  thought  he  has  given  to  the  subject,  his  knowledge 
of  the  region,  and  his  high  intelligence,  finds  the  place  of 
crossing  between  the  Crocodile  and  the  Bitter  Lakes,  near 
Serapeum.48  M.  Ritt,  following  certain  travellers  (Ayme 
and  Stickel),  finds  it  along  the  dike  at  Chaloof,  at  low  water, 
the  Egyptians  being  overtaken  by  the  rising  sea  and  swept 
into  the  “  Gulf  of  Heroopolis.”  Both  these  theories  would 
avail  themselves  of  certain  supposed  natural  crossings,  and 
perhaps  dispense  with  any  supernatural  elements  in  the 
transaction.  They  necessitate  the  supposition  of  continuous 
extension  of  the  Red  Sea  beyond  those  points  respectively, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  ever 
took  place  in  historic  times  as  far  as  Serapeum,  and  no 
valid  reason  to  suppose  existed  at  that  time  as  far  as  Chaloof. 

Accordingly,  the  larger  number  of  judicious  writers  have 
fixed  upon  the  neighborhood  of  Suez  as  the  point  where  the 
sea  was  crossed.49  There  are,  or  were  before  the  dredging 

48  Stated  by  him  in  conversation,  and  indicated  by  him  in  pencil  on  a  small 
railway  map.  See  note,  p.  149. 

49  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Niebuhr,  Laborde,  Wellsted,  Robinson, 
Hengstenberg,  Tischendorf,  Ewald,  Kurtz,  Keil,  and  many  others. 


176 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE \ 


for  tlie  Suez  Canal,  two  places  in  the  gulf  that  could  be 
forded  at  low  water.  One  was  some  distance  north  of 
Suez,  where  the  water  in  the  narrowest  place  is,  or  was  (for 
the  canal  has  made  considerable  changes),  two-thirds  of  a 
mile  wide,  and  two  sandy  islands  form  a  part  of  the  way. 
Here  Niebuhr’s  guides  crossed  on  foot,  and  the  water  came 
scarcely  up  to  their  knees.50  But  the  passage,  according  to 
Robinson,51  was  considered  dangerous  except  at  quite  low 
water,  and  was  never  crossed  by  caravans.  Ebers  saw 
Arabs  passing  there  at  ebb-tide.5”  It  was  here  that  Bona¬ 
parte  and  his  suite,  in  1799,  were  exposed  to  imminent  dan¬ 
ger  from  the  returning  tide.  Russegger  describes  his  own 
passage  in  183S.  He  first  rode  due  north  an  hour  from 
his  camp,  then  occupied  an  hour  in  crossing  the  arm  of  the 
sea,  the  water  in  some  places  (at  low  tide)  coming  above  the 
knee-joints  of  the  camels.53  Tischendorf,  in  1846,  sent  his 
Arabs  across  by  the  northern  ford,  while  he  went  by  boat  to 
Ayiin  Musa,  and  they  nowhere  found  the  water  up  to  the 
camel’s  thighs,  and  a  track  in  the  middle  was  wholly  dry.64 
On  a  subsequent  journey  (in  1869),  he  wished  to  make  the 
passage  himself  at  low  tide,  but  an  exceptional  south  wind 
rendered  it  less  safe,  and  he  did  not  venture.  His  camels 
went  by  the  ford,  but,  missing  the  best  track,  three  only 
walked  over,  and  the  rest  were  with  much  difficulty  gotten 
across  by  swimming.55  The  other  ford  is  south  of  Suez. 
Extensive  shoals  run  south-easterly,  extending  far  out  into 
the  sea,  and  near  the  southern  edge  a  long  narrow  sand¬ 
bank  reaches  out  toward  them  from  the  eastern  shore.  At 
low  tide  the  whole  is,  or  was,  laid  bare,  leaving  only  a  nar¬ 
row  winding  channel  like  a  river  between.  The  Arabs 

50  Reisebeschr.  i.  252.  61  Researches,  i.  85.  52  Durch  Gosen,  p.  531. 

63  Reisen,  iii.  25.  64  Tischendorf,  Reise  im  Orient,  i.  109. 

55  Tischendorf,  Aus  dem  Heilige  Lande,  p.  21. 


THE  EXODUS. 


177 


sometimes  waded  this  channel,  the  water  coming  up  to  the 
chin.56 

M.  de  Mauriac  states  the  case  similarly,  but  more  pre¬ 
cisely.  The  passage  commences  opposite  Suez,  and  extends 
nearly  south-east.  At  high  tide  it  is  covered  for  a  mile  and 
a  half  (i.  e.,  on  the  western  side  of  the  channel),  and  is  im¬ 
passable.  But  at  low  tide  the  surface  of  the  water  is  re¬ 
duced  to  a  channel  two  hundred  metres  broad,  which,  over 
against  Suez  being  only  .80  to  1.70  metres  in  depth,  is  easi¬ 
ly  forded,  while  in  other  places  it  is  more  than  two  metres 
(six  and  a  half  feet)  deep.  The  Arabs  still  cross  here  on 
their  donkeys  at  low  tide,  but  since  the  opening  of  the  canal 
they  are  obliged  to  cross  the  channel  of  the  canal  by  means 
of  Arab  boats  or  barks.57 


56  Robinson’s  Researches,  i.  70-72. 

57  I  will  cite  the  words  of  M.  de  Mauriac  on  the  whole  subject,  from  a  written 
communication  to  the  author :  “  Les  deux  gues  du  golfe  de  Suez  existent  encore, 
l’un  au  nord  de  Suez,  l’autre  au  sud.  Ils  ont  ete  coupes  dans  leur  parcours  par 
le  passage  du  canal  maritime.  Le  gue  nord  est  desservi  par  un  bac  mobile,  qui 
est  a  la  charge  de  la  compagnie,  et  le  gue  sud  par  des  barques  Arabes,  qui  pren- 
nent  probablement  une  droit  de  passage.  Le  passage  nord  est  la  route  ordi¬ 
naire  de  la  grande  caravane  se  rendant  i\  la  Mecque.  Cette  route  etait  ordi- 
nairement  praticable ;  elle  l’est  toujours  maintenant,  depuis  l’ouverture  du  canal 
qui  a  modifie  l’etat  ancien  des  lieux.  Elle  est  situee  au  nord  de  Suez  &  quatre 
milles  environ.  L’autre  passage  plus  court  [direct  ?]  et  place  vis-a-vis  de  Suez, 
prend  a  peu  pres  la  direction  de  sud-est.  Dans  cette  direction,  il  est  recouvert 
A,  maree  haute  sur  une  longueur  d’une  mille  et  demi,  et  n’est  point  praticable. 
A  maree  basse,  la  surface  de  l’eau  est  reduite  a  un  petit  chenal  de  200  metres 
de  larguer,  qui,  ne  presentant  devant  Suez  que  0.80  a  1.70  m.  de  profondeur,  se 
trouve  parfaitement  gueable,  tandis  que  dans  d’autres  endroits  les  fonds  sont 
superieur  it  2  metres  de  profondeur.  Comme  nous  venons  de  le  voir,  il  etait  pos¬ 
sible  de  passer  le  gue  4  maree  basse,  pour  aller  en  ane  vers  la  Fontaine  de  Moi'se, 
puisque  les  Arabs  le  font  maintenant.  Seulement  depuis  l’ouverture  du  canal, 
ils  sont  obliges  de  traverser  le  canal  maritime  au  moyen  de  barques  Arabes.” 

The  distance  here  given  of  the  northern  ford  from  Suez  at  “about  four 
miles,”  is  given  by  Russegger  at  “  an  hour.”  M.  de  Mauriac,  in  speaking  of  the 
southern  shoals  as  covered  for  a  mile  and  a  half,  must  refer  to  the  western  side ; 
for  the  enlarged  map  or  plan  of  the  company,  carefully  prepared,  shows  the 
whole  distance  across  to  be  two  miles  and  seven-tenths ;  and  in  another  letter 

12 


178 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Of  these  two  shallow  places,  Russegger  naturally  suggests 
the  northern  one,  by  which  he  crossed.  He  adds,  that  if 
the  heedless  and  excited  Pharaoh  chose  for  his  passage,  in 
chase  of  the  Hebrews,  a  place  but  little  nearer  the  town, 
and  was  overtaken  by  an  ordinary  high  tide,  the  destruction 
of  his  hosts  could  be  explained  wholly  on  natural  principles, 
without  resorting  to  any  special  hypothesis.  Ebers  seems 
to  favor  the  suggestion.  But  the  narrative  asserts  a  special 
transaction  —  at  the  least,  an  extraordinary  use  of  natural 
forces.  And  although  we  should  assume  a  subsequent  con¬ 
traction  of  the  sea -arm  at  that  place,  there  is  nothing  to 
warrant  the  supposition  that  it  was  then  broad  enough  to 
ingulf  the  whole  Egyptian  hosts. 

For  this  reason,  Robinson  apparently  favors  the  passage 
south  of  Suez,  where  the  sea  is  wider,  and  where,  supposing 
the  Israelites  to  follow  the  shoals  south-easterly,  the  distance 
at  high-water  would  be  now  nearly  three  miles,  and  prob¬ 
ably  more  at  that  time,  allowing  ample  space  for  all  the 
conditions  of  the  miracle.58  Laborde  had  already  advanced 

M.  de  Mauriac  says,  that  in  high  seas  the  waters  “  extend  seven  miles  north  of 
Suez,  and  are  about  three  miles  broad  opposite  to  the  town.” 

58  Researches,  i.  85.  Dr.  Robinson  carefully  notes  all  the  details  of  the 
Scripture  narrative.  In  obedience  to  the  declaration  of  God  and  the  signal  of 
Moses,  the  sea  was  made  dry  by  the  blowing  of  a  wind  “  all  night.”  The  Egyp¬ 
tians  were  troubled  “  in  the  morning  watch  ;”  and  when  morning  appeared  “  the 
sea  returned  to  his  strength,”  and  “  covered  all  the  host  of  Pharaoh.”  As 
this  blowing  of  the  wind  would  require  some  time  for  its  full  effect,  he  assumes 
that  the  Israelites  could  not  have  entered  the  passage  much  before  midnight, 
while  apparently  their  march  was  completed  by  the  morning  watch,  or  two 
o’clock.  They  must  have  marched  slowly,  by  reason  of  their  incumbrances. 
If  the  column  moved  one  thousand  abreast,  it  would  occupy  a  space  more  than 
half  a  mile  wide,  and,  being  two  thousand  in  depth,  would  extend  not  less  than 
two  miles  from  front  to  rear.  It  would  require  an  hour  fully  to  enter  the  sea, 
and  two  hours  more  to  traverse  a  space  of  four  miles  across.  Allowing  some 
little  delay  before  the  Egyptians  followed,  he  concludes  that  the  whole  body 
of  Israelites  could  “  have  passed,  at  the  most,  over  a  space  of  three  or  four 
miles,”  before  the  returning  waters  “troubled”  the  Egyptians.  If  the  space 


THE  EXODUS. 


179 


substantially  the  same  view,  making  the  line  of  march  al¬ 
most  clue  south-east,  or  in  the  precise  direction  of  Ayun 
Musa.  He  mentions69  that  he  went  to  bathe  in  the  sea 
south-east  of  Suez  at  low  tide,  and  that  he  proceeded  for  a 
long  distance  over  the  flat  without  finding  more  than  two 
feet  of  water.  Here  he  was  met  by  some  Arabs,  who  had 
crossed  from  the  direction  of  the  Wells  of  Moses,  who  in¬ 
formed  him,  however,  that  it  was  too  late  for  him  to  pro¬ 
ceed,  as  the  tide  was  rising.  Ebers  objects60  that  the  sea- 
charts  show  most  decisively  that  at  no  time  of  day  can  one 
go  from  Suez  toward  Ayun  Musa  without  swimming  half 
the  way.  But  this  statement  is  shown,  by  the  testimony  of 
M.  de  Mauriac,  to  be  a  mistake.  Without  contending  un¬ 
reasonably  for  exactness  of  determination,  we  may  well  ac¬ 
cept  the  southern  passage  at  Suez  as  best  answering  all  the 
conditions  of  the  case,  and  may  probably  recognize  the 
“Wells  of  Moses”  as  a  traditional  reminiscence  of  the  first 
camping-ground  after  the  passage. 

The  process,  definitely  stated  in  the  Scripture  narrative, 
by  which  the  sea  was  divided  and  reunited,  would  find  here 
the  corresponding  fulfilment :  “  The  Lord  caused  the  sea 
to  go  back  by  a  strong  east  wind  all  that  night,  and  made 
the  sea  dry  land,  and  the  waters  were  divided.”  This  clear¬ 
ly  asserts  that  the  effect  was  wrought  by  a  natural  agency, 
though  preternaturally  applied.  It  has  been  affirmed  by 
Hengstenberg61  and  some  others,  that  the  Hebrew  word 
cannot  mean  any  other  than  a  strictly  east  wind.  But 

assigned  be  thought  restricted,  the  method  of  reasoning  appears  to  be  sound, 
and  would  preclude  a  crossing  south  of  Jebel  Atakah,  where  the  sea  is  twelve 
miles  wide,  provided  it  could  be  shown  how  they  could  reach  that  starting- 
point. 

59  Commentaire  Geographique  sur  l’Exode  et  les  Nombres,  p.  80. 

60  Durch  Gosen,  p.  530. 

61  History  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  i.  292. 


180 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


it  lias  been  well  replied  that,  since  the  Hebrews  had  special 
names  for  only  the  four  quarters  of  the  compass,  this  term 
may  properly  be  understood  of  a  north-east  wind.62  How, 
the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide  here  is  very  considerable.  The 
French  measurements  of  Hapoleon’s  time  made  it  from  live 
and  a  half  to  six  feet,  and  Robinson  was  told  seven.63  The 
additional  effect  of  the  wind  is  attested  by  many  witnesses. 
Tiscliendorf  mentions  how  the  ebb  is  increased  by  a  north¬ 
east  wind.61  Wellsted  says  that  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
water  in  the  Arabian  Gulf  is  nowhere  so  dependent  upon 
the  wind  as  at  Suez  ;65  that  when  a  long-continued  north¬ 
east  wind  is  followed  by  a  south-east  wind,  the  water  sud¬ 
denly  rises  more  than  six  feet,  and  the  northern  ford,  which 
previously  could  be  crossed  on  foot,  becomes  impassable 
even  for  camels.  Schubert  mentions  that  the  water  north 
of  Suez  is  driven  so  much  to  the  south  by  a  strong  north¬ 
west  wind,  that  the  gulf  can  then  be  ridden  through.66  M. 
de  Lesseps  mentioned  to  me  the  extraordinary  effects  of  this 
kind  which  he  had  witnessed  in  such  storms  as  occur  only 
at  intervals  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  He  had  seen  the 
northern  end  of  the  sea  in  places  blown  almost  dry,  and 
again  had  seen  the  waters  driven  far  over  the  land  toward 
the  Bitter  Lakes.  But  the  most  decisive  testimony  is  found 
on  the  elaborate  map  of  the  Maritime  Canal  Company, 
which,  while  giving  the  ordinary  difference  between  high 
and  low  tide  in  a  calm  at  only  eight-tenths  of  a  metre,  also 
states  the  difference  between  the  highest  and  the  lowest 
known  seas  at  3.24  metres,  or  ten  feet  and  seven  inches — 

62  Keil  on  the  Pentateuch,  ii.  46.  So  also,  substantially,  Robinson,  Ebers, 
Kalisch,  Gesenius.  “  The  Arabs,”  says  Robinson,  “  apply  the  term  even  to  the 
southerly  wind  of  the  desert.”  Fiirst  says,  still  more  broadly,  “  stormy  wind 
generally.” 

63  Researches,  i.  T2.  64  Reise,  i.  183.  65  Travels  in  Arabia,  ii.  41,  42. 

66  Reise  im  Orient. 


THE  EXODUS. 


181 


an  amount  that  more  than  meets  all  the  exigencies  of  the! 
Biblical  narrative,  and  forms  a  remarkable  coincidence  with 
it  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  powerful  winds  on  this  arm  of 
the  sea. 

Suppose,  now,  this  strong  north-east  wind  of  extraordinary 
power  blowing  the  waters  all  night,  it  would  make  “  the  sea 
dry  land”  along  the  shallower  region  or  line  of  the  ford, 
leaving  the  waters  still  standing  in  the  deeper  places  north 
and  south  of  the  shoals;  and  so  “the  waters  were  divided. 
And  the  children  of  Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea 
upon  the  dry  ground :  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them 
on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their  left.”  That  the  wind  af¬ 
terward  changed  to  a  different  quarter  for  the  destruction 
of  the  Egyptians,  though  not  asserted,  is  obviously  involved 
in  the  method  pursued,  and  is  perhaps  implied  distinctly  in 
the  statement,  that  in  the  morning  the  Israelites  “saw  the 
Egyptians  dead  upon  the  sea-shore  ” — that  is,  naturally,  on 
the  eastern  shore,  on  which  they  themselves  were,  whither 
they  would  not  have  been  driven  by  an  east  wind.  The 
progressive  nature  of  the  catastrophe  as  the  waters  return¬ 
ed  is  indicated  in  the  statement  that  the  Egyptians  drove 
their  chariots  heavily,  and  attempted  to  flee,  before  they 
were  overtaken  by  the  final  destruction. b7 

Some  have  objected  to  the  recognition  of  natural  agen¬ 
cies  in  the  translation,  as  irreverent.  But  the  irreverence 
would  seem  to  lie  in  the  refusal  to  accept  the  plain  state¬ 
ments  of  the  narrative,  which  expressly  declares  that  the 
result  was  brought  about  by  the  use  of  a  natural  agency — 

67  The  Hebrew  translated  “  took  off  their  chariot  wheels”  has  been  variously 
understood.  It  is  a  word  of  wide  application.  Kalisch  renders,  “  made  them 
glide  out so  that  “  they  could  not  move  on  the  slippery  bottom  of  the  sea ; 
Keil,  “made  them  give  way;”  Knobel,  “made  them  give  way,  or  come  off  their 
axles;”  Lange,  “turned  them  aside;”  Maurer,  “fuit  ut  ab  orbita  aberraret  rota 
curruum.”  The  result  is  not  affected  by  the  exact  rendering. 


182 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


“a  strong  east  wind.”  It  is  also  in  keeping  with  others  of 
the  miracles  in  Egypt  (e.  g .,  that  of  the  locusts),  which  are 
explicitly  ascribed  by  the  sacred  writer  to  the  use  of  natural 
means  extraordinarily  directed.  It  is  also  further  objected 
that  the  waters  stood  np  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  and  that  the  explanation  is  out  of  analogy  with  the 
passage  th tough  the  Jordan.68  But  the  narrative  (in  both 
verses  22,  29)  only  says  that  “  the  waters  were  a  wall  to 
them,”  not  necessarily  the  form  of  a  wall,  but  a  wall  to 
them ,  that  is,  their  protection  or  defence.  Pharaoh  could 
not  attack  them  on  either  Hank,  but  (verse  23)  must  follow  on 
their  track.  The  phraseology  and  the  circumstances  are  quite 
different  from  those  in  the  crossing  of  the  Jordan,  where  no 
natural  agency  is  introduced,  and  where  “  the  waters  which 
came  down  from  above  stood  and  rose  up  upon  a  heap.” 

Wellsted  judiciously  remarks  thus,  on  the  whole  aspect 
of  the  case :  “  When  I  look  away  from  all  hypotheses,  and 
confine  myself  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  I  must  decide  that 
the  passage  took  place  in  the  neighborhood  of  Suez.  The 
objection  that  the  water  was  not  sufficient  to  drown  the 
whole  host  of  Pharaoh  has  no  weight.  It  is  now  certainly 
enough,  and  must  formerly  have  been  more  than  enough, 
whereof  there  exist  most  striking  evidences.  It  is  expressly 
related  in  the  Bible  that  a  strong  wind  co-operated  with  the 
miracle.  At  Suez  the  water  recedes  when  the  north-east 
wind  lias  blown  for  some  time  ;  and  if  a  south-east  wind 
follows  it,  then  the  water  suddenly  rises  more  than  six  feet, 
and  causes  the  ford  itself,  one  and  a  half  English  miles 
north  of  the  town,  to  become  impassable.  Fatal  accidents 
not  seldom  take  place.  We  have  only  to  think  of  Bona¬ 
parte,  who  on  the  passage  had  nearly  perished.  In  other 


68  These  are  the  objections  of  Hengstenberg,  Kingdom  of  God,  i.  292. 


THE  EXODUS. 


183 


parts  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  water  is  de¬ 
pendent  on  the  winds,  but  nowhere  so  greatly  as  here  at 
the  end  of  it.  If  we  suppose  the  passage  of  the  Israelites 
at  Suez,  the  determination  of  the  next  stations  has  no  diffi¬ 
culty;  since,  on  the  modern  journey  from  Suez  to  Sinai, 
they  easily  come  round  of  themselves.  The  Desert  of 
Slnir,  wherein  they  spent  three  days,  is  the  desert  stretch¬ 
ing  between  Suez  and  Hawwarali,  upon  which  to-day  no 
drinking-water  is  found.  The  whole  distance  between  these 
two  points  amounts  to  fifteen  hours ;  and  if  they  marched 
five  hours  on  each  of  the  three  days,  travelling  with  their 
baggage  and  effects,  that  would  be  as  much  as  we  could 
expect.  Hawwarali,  with  its  bitter  waters,  must  be  Marali, 
since,  so  far  as  I  could  find,  there  are  no  other  bitter  foun¬ 
tains  in  the  region.  Gharandel,  where  there  are  water  and 
palms,  becomes  the  Biblical  Elim.”  And  fixing  the  en¬ 
campment  by  the  sea  near  Ras  Selima,  he  adds,  “  From  Ras 
Selima  to  Mount  Sinai  are  expressly  made  five  more  sta¬ 
tions.  I  used  twenty-five  hours;  which  gives  for  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  again,  five  days’  marches  of  five  hours  each.”69 

In  connection  with  this  event,  the  prominence  of  the 
chariots  in  Pharaoh’s  army  deserves  notice.  Prior  to  the 
eighteenth  dynasty,  and  of  course  in  the  times  of  Abraham 
and  Jacob,  the  monuments  make  no  mention  of  the  horse.70 
But  in  the  reign  of  Thothmes  III.  horses  and  chariots  had 
become  a  regular  tribute  from  the  conquered  nations.71 
Rameses  II.  is  both  described  and  delineated  as  fighting  in 

CD  CD 

his  chariot.  Even  TIomer  has  not  failed  to  recognize  this 
then  prominent  feature  of  Egyptian  warfare  :72 


69  Travels  in  Arabia,  ii.  41.  70  Birch’s  History  of  Egypt,  p.  85. 

71  lb.  pp.  94,  95,  97,  99,  100,  103,  116. 

72  Mr.  Gladstone  (Contemporary  Review,  July  and  August,  1874)  would  as¬ 
sign  the  siege  of  Troy  to  a  period  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  Exodus. 


184 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


“  Thebes,  the  pride 

Of  Egypt,  where  large  treasures  are  laid  up, 

And  through  whose  hundred  gates  rush  men  and  steeds, 
Two  hundred  through  each  gate.”73 


Curiously  enough,  an  inscription  has  been  found  which 
gives  the  name  of  a  high  official  residing  about  this  time 
at  Tanis,  who  was  the  king’s  master  of  horse.74  A  still  more 
noteworthy  coincidence  comes  to  light,  from  the  close  trans¬ 
lation  of  Exodus  xiv.  7 :  “  The  chariots  of  Egypt,  and  cap¬ 
tains  over  every  one  of  them,”  which,  according  to  some 
scholars,  should  be  rendered  “  three  upon  every  one 

of  them.”75  Now,  in  the  Egyptian  poem  of  the  Pentaur, 
narrating  the  exploits  of  Rameses,  the  father  of  Menephta, 
the  writer  describes  him  as  “  encircled  by  twenty-five  hun¬ 
dred  chariots  obstructing  his  way,  and  all  the  vile  men  of 
Kliita  and  their  numerous  lands;  there  were  three  men  on 
a  chariot.”76  Wilkinson  gives  one  cut  that  shows  a  chariot 
containing  three  persons,  although  he  mentions  it  as  uncom¬ 
mon.77  Sharpe  gives  another. 

The  freshness  of  color  in  the  whole  narrative  of  the  Ex¬ 
odus  appears  even  in  the  grim  wit  with  which  the  people 
asked,  “Because  there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt”  [that  land 
of  tombs  and  catacombs  and  mummies]  “  hast  thou  taken 
us  away  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ?” 


73  Iliad,  ix.  383.  74  Ebers,  Egypten,  etc.,  pp.  209,  220. 

75  Rosenmuller,  Gesenius,  Knobel,  and  others.  But  Fiirst  and  others  object, 
some  on  the  erroneous  supposition  that  this  was  never  the  custom. 

76  Birch’s  Egypt,  p.  127.  Mariette  Bey’s  Aper9U,  p.  64. 

77  Wilkinson’s  Apcient  Egyptians,  i.  368,  370.  Sharpe’s  History  of  Egypt, 
i.  57. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES,  MARAH ,  AND  ELIM. 


185 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES,  MARAH,  AND  ELIM. 

A  day  or  two  were  spent  at  Suez,  in  waiting  for  the 
movements  of  our  dragoman,  and  for  the  coming  of  his 
confidential  servant  from  Beyroot.  On  Friday,  February 
6,  all  seemed  in  readiness.  It  was  arranged,  however, 
that  we  should  remain  while  the  camels  went  round  north 
by  the  head  of  the  gulf,  should  spend  the  night  in  Suez, 
cross  in  a  boat  early  in  the  morning,  and  join  our  caravan 
on  the  way  to  Ayiin  Musa.  The  dragoman  deposited  with 
me  for  safe-keeping  some  pounds  of  backsheesh  money, 
tied  up  in  a  blue  cloth.  A  violent  rain  of  .two  hours’  dura¬ 
tion  took  place  during  the  evening.  Next  morning  the  air 
was  cool  and  the  wind  was  strong,  but  the  sky  was  clear. 
Six  o’clock  was  the  hour  for  departure.  But  the  Oriental 
procrastination,  which  we  had  already  begun  to  experience, 
and  were  destined  to  experience  to  the  full,  made  it  seven 
o’clock  before  we  entered  the  boat  that  lay  close  beside  our 
hotel.  A  stiff  breeze  landed  us  in  a  few  minutes  on  the 
soil  of  Asia.  But  no  camels  or  Arabs  were  waiting  for  us. 
Determined  not  to  be  delayed  any  longer,  we  started  on 
foot,  and  our  valises  were  taken  along  upon  a  camel  hired 
upon  the  spot. 

After  a  walk  of  nearly  two  hours,  we  met  our  new  ac¬ 
quaintances  coming  composedly  to  meet  us,  a  little  north  of 
Ayiin  Musa.  The  way  thus  far  was  over  a  hard,  compacted 
sand,  sprinkled  with  gravel.  Along  a  part  of  the  way  small 


1S6 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


bowlder  stones  were  scattered  on  the  surface.  Numerous 
hillocks,  with  flat  tops,  were  in  sight,  looking  as  though  the 
sand  had  simply  blown  away  all  round  underneath,  leaving 
the  harder  strata  above  unbroken,  and  level  as  a  table. 
These  continued  to  be  seen  on  succeeding  days  along  the 
way.  Parallel  to  the  shore,  at  the  distance  of  some  ten  or 
twelve  miles  east,  rose  the  mountain  range  of  Er  Rahah, 
toward  a  thousand  feet  in  height.  It  is  the  abrupt  ascent 
to  the  great  desert  plain  lying  east  and  north,  its  monoto¬ 
ny  broken  only  by  the  peak  Jebel  Bislier  (Taset  Sudr). 
For  nearly  three  days’  march  it  shut  us  in  upon  the  coast. 
From  the  conspicuous  and  wall-like  aspect  of  this  moun¬ 
tain  range,  Palmer  has  suggested  that  the  desert  lying  be¬ 
tween  it  and  the  sea  is  the  Desert  of  Slmr.  Shur  in  the  He¬ 
brew"  is  “  wall.”  The  wind  wras  cold  and  piercing  through¬ 
out  the  day,  and  when  we  wTere  mounted  it  required  all  our 
wrappings  to  keep  us  comfortably  warm.  In  the  afternoon 
we  saw  several  Arabs  shielding  themselves  from  its  sharp¬ 
ness  by  crouching  behind  the  thick  shelter  of  some  retein 
bushes,  undoubtedly  the  “juniper,”  under  which  Elijah  sat 
down  in  the  desert,  and  afterward  lay  down  and  slept 
(1  Kings  xix.  4,  5).  It  w^as  here  a  low  shrub;  but  wre  after¬ 
ward  found  it  ten  or  twelve  feet  lnVh.  In  this  region,  and 
at  the  present  time,  the  buds  were  still  shut,  or  slightly  open¬ 
ing.  Twro  or  three  weeks  later,  and  in  warmer  regions,  we 
found  it  in  full  bloom,  perfectly  covered  with  delicate  white 
and  pink  blossoms,  and  exceedingly  beautiful.  Neither 
here,  nor  in  any  subsequent  part  of  our  journey,  did  w"e  find 
“  the  path  marked  out  by  skeletons  of  camels  which  lie 
bleaching  in  the  sun,”1  but  it  was  commonly  indicated 
very  clearly  by  parallel  lines  of  camel- tracks,  occasionally 


1  Palmer’s  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  33. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES,  MARAH,  AND  ELIM. 


187 


numbering  as  many  as  a  dozen,  making  continuous  chan¬ 
nels,  sometimes  scarcely  sunk  below  tlie  surface,  sometimes 
deeper. 

A  delay  of  two  hours  at  Ay  tin  Musa,  while  the  camels 
were  having  their  loads  adjusted,  gave  us  opportunity  to 
take  an  early  lunch,  and  to  look  round  this  singular  place. 
It  is  an  oasis  reclaimed  from  the  hopeless  sand  by  a  supply 
of  unpalatable  water,  which  is  arrested  and  brought  to  the 
surface  by  the  labor  of  infinitesimal  insects.  The  place  has 
been  changed  so  much  from  time  to  time  by  cultivation,  that 
no  two  travellers  have  given  precisely  the  same  picture.  Its 
importance  as  a  source  of  water-supply  to  Suez  has  ceased, 
since  the  canal  has  brought  a  far  better  element  to  this  city 
from  the  Nile.  But  as  Suez  has  increased  in  size,  the  spot 
has  received  more  attention  as  a  place  of  gardening  and  veg¬ 
etable  supply  for  the  neighboring  city. 

The  only  springs  which  are  still  left  in  their  natural  state 
are  at  the  extreme  south  of  the  localitv,  outside  of  all  the 
enclosures.  Here  rises  a  hillock  some  sixteen  or  seventeen 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding  plain,  containing  a 
basin  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  surrounded  bv 
a  rocky  rim.  There  was  a  break  in  the  side,  and  grass 
growing  in  the  middle  of  the  basin,  but  not  much  water 
now  apparent.  Fraas  found  a  pool  about  nineteen  inches 
deep  and  four  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  with  the  water 
flowing  out,  but  absorbed  in  the  sand  before  it  reached  the 
head  of  the  plain.  In  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  on 
a  lower  level  at  the  foot  of  a  solitary  palm,  a  little  exca¬ 
vation  disclosed  some  water.  This  hillock  our  dragoman 
seemed  to  emphasize  as  the  original  Ayun  Musa.  But  the 
principal  flow  of  water  is*  now  found  (or  diverted)  else¬ 
where  ;  for  at  a  short  distance  to  the  north  is  a  series  of 
five  large  gardens  or  plantations,  enclosed  by  high  reed 


188 


FROM  EG  YPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


fences,  and  partly  filled  with  palms,  tamarisks,  apricots, 
pomegranates,  and  other  trees,  and  occupied  chiefly  by  beds 
of  vegetables  and  herbs,  irrigated  by  the  water  from  these 
wells.  Some  of  these  enclosures  contain  small  summer¬ 
houses,  and  are  places  of  resort  from  Suez.  In  this  place 
Robinson  found,  in  1837,  about  twenty  stunted  palm-bushes, 
a  patch  of  barley  a  few  rods  square,  and  a  few’  cabbage- 
plants.  Russegger,  in  1838,  found  two  poor  Arab  huts, 
some  small  garden-beds,  and  a  few  vegetables.  Laval,  in 
1850,  found  three  gardens.  The  change  has  been  steady 
and  great. 

In  the  southernmost  of  these  plantations  we  sat  down  in 
an  open  summer-house  to  take  our  lunch.  Here  was  a  large 
pool  a  hundred  and  sixty -five  feet  in  circumference,  as  I 
paced  it,  kept  full  by  a  spring  which  bubbles  up  vigorously 
near  the  centre  and  flows  off  at  the  side  in  a  rapid  stream, 
three  inches  wide  and  half  an  inch  deep.  We  all  tasted  it, 
but  found  it  brackish  and  disagreeable.  We  had  no  desire 
to  drink  it.  The  next  garden  had  a  stoned  well  just  outside. 
Beyond  it  was  a  well  excavated  in  the  sand  near  a  palm- 
tree,  and  still  beyond  another  well,  about  twelve  feet  in  di¬ 
ameter,  laid  with  stones.  Then  followed  a  third  enclosure, 
containing  a  well  of  square  mason-work,  and  also  an  exca¬ 
vation  in  the  sand.  The  fourth  contained  two  stoned  wells. 
The  fifth  contained  three  wells,  all  bnilt  up,  one  of  them 
about  eighteen,  another  about  twenty,  feet  in  diameter. 
One  of  them,  which  wras  quite  deep,  v7as  provided  with  a 
wheel  to  raise  the  water.  These  plantations  extend  a  con¬ 
siderable  distance,  perhaps  half  a  mile,  from  north  to  south. 
They  admirably  illustrate  what  irrigation  and  cultivation 
will  do  in  the  most  forbidding  regions  of  this  desert.  The 
entire  amount  of  water  to  be  had  here,  such  as  it  is,  would 
be  sufficient  for  a  large  body  of  people.  The  appearance  is 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES ,  MAR  AH,  AND  ELIM.  1S9 


that  water  can  be  readied  almost  anywhere  in  the  immedi¬ 
ate  vicinity  by  digging.  A  very  singular  aspect  of  the  case 
is  the  ascent  of  the  water  to  the  top  of  the  hillock,  which  is 
several  feet  above  the  surrounding  plain.  This  is  due  to  the 
work  of  infusoria.  The  stone  basin  at  the  highest  point 
(and  similar  ones,  probably,  around  others  of  these  wells)  is 
formed  of  an  infinite  number  of  the  chalk-shells  of  these 
little  creatures,  Cyjprides.  Fraas  found  them  alive  in  great 
numbers,  and  an  analysis  by  Eulenstein  detected  the  re¬ 
mains  of  no  less  than  seven  different  species  of  fresh-water 
animalcules.  The  explanation  of  the  case  by  Fraas  is,  no 
doubt,  correct.2  The  water  flows  down  toward  the  sea 
*  from  the  high  range  of  Er  Rahah,  eight  or  ten  miles  dis¬ 
tant,  through  the  gently-sloping  strata  beneath  the  soil,  and 
would  continue  to  pass  on  without  coming  to  the  surface. 
But  the  sand,  gradually  cemented  by  the  chalk-shells  of 
millions  of  these  animalcules,  becomes  impervious,  and  the 
water  finally  is  brought  to  the  surface  through  the  new 
channels  thus  formed  for  it,  being  driven  up  by  the  hy¬ 
draulic  pressure  along  the  strata. 

The  traditional  name,  “Moses’s  Wells,”  carries  with  it 
intrinsic  probability.  So  important  a  watering-place  could 
hardly  have  failed  to  be  a  camping-ground  for  the  great 
host  after  their  deliverance.  The  probability  is  greatly  in¬ 
creased  by  the  fact  that  not  more  than  four  miles  to  the 
north  lies  the  fountain  of  Naha,  or  El  Ghurkudeh,  furnish¬ 
ing  drinking-water,  which  was  formerly  used  at  Suez.  That 
fountain,  though  but  an  excavation  in  the  plain  at  the  foot 
of  a  range  of  sand-hillocks,  a  basin  eight  or  ten  feet  in  di¬ 
ameter  by  six  or  eight  feet  deep,  contains  water,  also  brack¬ 
ish,  which  boils  up  rapidly  enough  to  supply  two  hundred 


2  Aus  dem  Orient,  pp.  181-184. 


190 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


camel-loads  at  once.3  A  situation  so  important,  with  foun¬ 
tains  at  a  suitable  distance  to  supply  the  van  and  the  rear  of 
the  immense  host,  could  hardly  have  failed  to  be  a  place  of 
encampment,  even  though  the  place  of  crossing  had  not  been 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  much  more  if  it  was. 
Here  one  might  feel  confident  that  he  was  on  the  line  of 
march,  and  probably  on  a  camping-ground  of  the  Israelites. 

Six  hours’  ride  from  Ayun  Musa  brought  us  to  Wady 
Sudr.  Our  journey  continued  over  the  same  hard  arid 
plain,  sprinkled  with  gravel,  and  presenting  an  occasional 
zone  of  bowlders.  Now  and  then  sharp  flints  strewn  along 
the  surface  (and  in  other  parts  of  the  way  subsequently)  had 
suggested  to  Ebers  the  “  sharp  stone  ”  with  which,  some¬ 
where  along  this  same  route,  Zipporah  (Exod.  iv.  25)  per¬ 
formed  the  rite  of  circumcision  on  her  son.  A  few  tufts 
of  herbage  were  to  be  seen  from  time  to  time  in  spots.  In¬ 
deed,  whenever  we  came,  both  to-day  and  afterward,  to  the 
slightest  depression  of  the  surface  along  which  the  winter 
rains  had  run  (which  is  the  simplest  form  of  wady),  it  was 
invariably  marked  with  tufts  of  vegetation,  often  quite 
abundant.  The  only  living  creatures  we  encountered  on  the 
way  were  three  Arabs,  five  ravens,  one  sparrow-like  bird, 
and  one  little  animal  with  a  head  and  body  like  a  whitish 
mouse  and  a  long  tufted  tail,  that  hopped  along  the  ground 
almost  like  a  diminutive  kangaroo.  The  Arabs  gave  chase, 
and  caught  it  as  it  rushed  to  a  retem  bush  for  shelter.  It 
was  a  species  of  jerboa,  that  evidently  had  mistaken  the 
temperature  and  come  forth  prematurely  from  his  winter 
retreat.  The  wind  continued  bitterly  rough  and  cold.  We 
arrived  at  our  camping-ground  chilled  and  hungry,  but  not 
excessively  tired.  We  found  that  the  fatigue  of  camel-rid- 


3  Robinson’s  Researches,  i.  89. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES,  MAR  AH,  AND  ELIM.  191 


ing  had  been  somewhat  magnified  by  travellers.  For  a  lit¬ 
tle  time  before  lunch,  as  I  had  ridden  with  the  legs  dan¬ 
gling  and  no  support  for  the  feet,  I  began  to  feel  the  disa¬ 
greeableness  of  the  motion,  and  to  anticipate  a  good  deal  of 
severe  fatigue.  But  after  lunch,  when  we  remounted,  the 
dragoman  had  attached  stirrups  of  cord  to  the  horn  of  the 
saddle,  a  very  simple  but  very  comfortable  device.  The 
first  ride  of  six  hours  that  afternoon  was  easily  accom¬ 
plished,  and  in  repeated  instances  afterward  we  were  in  the 
saddle  nine,  ten,  and  eleven  hours,  without  special  fatigue, 
or  any  of  the  uneasiness  and  distress  in  the  spinal  column 
of  which  travellers  have  sometimes  complained.4  The  trot 
of  the  camel  is  distressing  enough ;  but  the  ordinary  pace, 
a  slow  swinging  walk,  was  almost  as  easy  as  the  walk  of  a 
horse.  On  a  smooth  level  track  the  speed  scarcely  varied 
from  two  miles  and  three-quarters  per  hour.  By  constant 
pushing,  we  could  bring  it  up  to  three  miles,  while  the  load¬ 
ed  camels,  especially  where  the  track  was  rough  or  uneven, 
varied  little  from  two  and  a  half  miles  an  hour.  This  rate 
they  would  maintain,  if  need  be,  uninterruptedly  from  morn¬ 
ing  to  night.  It  became  our  custom — at  least,  till  after  we 
reached  Nukhl — to  ride  forward  while  the  beasts  of  burden 
were  loading  and  nearly  loaded,  to  rest  for  lunch  an  hour 
or  more  at  noon,  and  then  overtake  the  caravan  just  as  our 
tents  were  pitched  at  night. 

We  learned  to  appreciate  the  camel.  ITis  real  patience 
contrasts  strongly  with  his  harmless  but  disagreeable  growl¬ 
ing  while  being  loaded  or  otherwise  disturbed,  and  his  won¬ 
derful  qualities  are  in  strong  contrast  to  his  weird  and  ugly 
exterior.  lie  plods  on  steadily  from  morning  till  night. 
He  eats  the  most  unpromising  herbs  and  shrubs,  some  of 


*E.  g.,  Forty  Days  in  the  Desert,  p.  6,  by  W.  II.  Bartlett. 


192 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


them  greedily.  He  goes  for  days — in  one  part  of  our  jour¬ 
ney  live  days — without  drink.  Ebers’s  experienced  drago¬ 
man  said  that  “  the  camels  were  weak  from  having  had  no 
water  for  four  days,  and  would  give  out  after  the  seventh 
or  eighth  day  if  no  water  were  found.”"  Our  dragoman 
said  they  could  go  twelve  days.  lie  is  perfectly  sure-foot¬ 
ed  ;  I  never  saw  one  stumble  but  once,  and  then  something 
gave  way  beneath  him.  When  he  walks  over  the  sand,  his 
foot  does  not  sink  so  deep  as  a  man’s.  Sharp  stones  do  not 
cut,  nor  even  acacia  thorns  penetrate,  his  caoutchouc  foot, 
unless  when  the  thorns  get  between  the  toes  or  two  princi¬ 
pal  divisions,  and  then  he  soon  paws  them  out.  The  only 
places  where  he  cannot  go  are  wet  places,  for  there  his  foot 
slips  like  india-rubber.  He  has  an  extra  joint  in  his  hind 
leg,  and  folds  up  like  a  jack-knife  to  lie  down  and  receive 
his  rider  or  his  burden,  and  his  hump  aids  in  making  the 
load  or  the  saddle  secure.  lie  rises  or  lies  down  with  a 
sudden  seesaw  motion,  which  might,  and  sometimes  does, 
pitch  off  the  unwary  and  inexperienced.  But  none  of  our 
party  were  ever  thus  dismounted ;  and  after  a  few  days  the 
rider  acquires  an  instinctive  power  of  adjustment,  so  as  to 
sustain  no  inconvenience.  The  only  awkward  experience 
we  had  was  from  a  roguish  trick  of  rising  quickly  just  as 
the  rider  was  in  the  act  of  throwing  the  leg  over  the  sad¬ 
dle,  and  thus  making  him  perform  a  rotary  motion,  where¬ 
by,  in  one  instance  at  least,  I  found  myself  lying  on  my 
back  under  the  camel’s  belly.  Occasionally  he  would  take 
the  signal  for  lying  down  given  to  another  camel,  or  would 
imitate  the  other’s  example  with  a  suddenness  that  called 
for  the  quickest  of  preparations  against  an  instant  over¬ 
throw.  Stupid  as  he  looks,  he  has  his  likings,  and  there 


6  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  p.  109. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES ,  MAR  AH,  AND  ELLM.  193 


springs  up  between  a  camel  and  liis  owner  a  very  notice¬ 
able  friendship.  One  of  our  Arabs,  Hassan,  a  fine-looking, 
cheery  young  fellow,  was  continually  searching  out  nice 
morsels  for  his  camel  as  we  went  along,  and  the  camel 
would  follow  him  like  a  dog. 

On  arriving  at  Wady  Sudr,  there  ensued  a  prodigious 
bustle  of  pitching  tents,  while  we  sheltered  ourselves  from 
the  wind  behind  some  clumps  of  retem;  and  after  a  delay 
of  two  hours  or  more,  dinner  was  served  in  state,  with  its 
soup,  three  courses  of  meat,  pudding,  dessert,  and  coffee, 
while  a  lantern  hung  at  the  door  of  our  tent.  After  even¬ 
ing  prayers  together,  we  were  glad  to  find  our  way  to  bed, 
and  to  enjoy  a  most  luxurious  sleep. 

The  Sabbath  was  spent  here  pleasantly.  During  the 
forenoon  we  came  together  in  one  of  our  tents,  read  the 
105th  Psalm,  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  chapters  of  Exodus, 
with  conversational  suggestions,  and  prayers.  We  had  for¬ 
tunately  taken  two  hymn-and-tune  books,  which  proved  to  ' 
us  a  great  source  of  pleasure  throughout  the  journey. 
Many  a  desert  spot  echoed  to  the  sound.  The  Arabs  heard 
in  Wady  Sudr,  “He  leadeth  me,”  “All  hail  the  power  of 
Jesus’  name,”  and  “  My  soul,  be  on  thy  guard.”  And  our 
Syrian  (Maronite)  dragoman,  who  was  afterward  present  on 
one  occasion,  with  some  Oriental  ostentation  informed  us  he 
thanked  God  that  he  was  travelling  with  Christians.  The 
forenoon  closed  pleasantly  in  this  service. 

After  noon  lunch,  we  walked  to  a  spring  or  well  toward 
the  coast  not  visited  by  travellers,  at  least  not  laid  down  on 
the  map,  Ain  Berwad.  It  proved  to  be  much  more  dis¬ 
tant  than  we  had  apprehended,  being  about  six  miles  north¬ 
west  from  our  camp,  and  apparently  about  a  mile  from  the 
sea,  in  Wady  Atha.  Our  sheikh,  who  accompanied  us,  was 
at  times  apparently  at  a  loss  to  find  the  way,  and  some  three 

13 


194 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


times  lie  endeavored  to  turn  us  back,  telling  us  in  panto¬ 
mime  that  it  would  be  sunset  before  our  return.  But  we 
made  him  lead  on.  At  length  its  proximity  was  indicated 
by  numerous  camel-tracks  conducting  toward  it,  the  moist¬ 
ure  of  the  soil,  and  increased  vegetation.  There  was  an 
excavation  through  the  sand,  sloping  to  an  opening  three 
feet  in  diameter.  The  surface  of  the  water  was  seven  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  ground,  and  there  was  a  vacant  space 
of  six  or  eiodit  inches  between  it  and  the  hardened  earth 
above.  The  water  was  two  feet  seven  inches  deep,  and 
extended  round  underneath  with  a  diameter  of  nine  feet  in 
every  direction,  and  for  one  quarter  of  the  distance  the  cir¬ 
cumference  could  not  be  reached  with  our  canes.  The  wa¬ 
ter  was  brackish,  but  drinkable.  In  returning,  one  of  our 
number  completely  outwalked  the  sheikh,  who  did  his  best 
to  keep  up,  but  in  vain.  On  the  way  I  observed  at  least 
four  different  kinds  of  herbs,  the  most  common  of  which 
was  greedily  eaten  by  our  camels.  The  only  living  beings 
in  sight  to-day,  besides  those  of  our  own  company,  were 
one  flock  of  a  dozen  ravens  and  somebody’s  dog.  The  high 
and  monotonous  wall  of  Er  Bah  ah  was  relieved  by  the  sin¬ 
gle  peak  of  Jebel  Bisher,  which  we  found  by  our  pocket 
sextant  to  be  just  seven  miles  and  twelve  rods  distant  from 
our  camp,  seven  degrees  north  of  east.  At  Jebel  Bisher, 
according  to  Mr.  Holland,  is  a  good  supply  of  water.  On 
the  west  lay  the  Bed  Sea,  in  sight,  and  the  deep-colored, 
barren,  but  picturesque,  mountain  range  on  its  farther  shore 
stretched  far  away  to  the  south. 

The  morning  of  February  9th  opened  clear  and  cold. 
At  nine  o’clock  the  thermometer  stood  at  thirty-four  de¬ 
grees.  We  had  set  seven  o’clock  as  the  hour  of  depart¬ 
ure  ;  but  with  Oriental  delay  it  proved  to  be  eight  when 
we  actually  started.  There  was  a  preliminary  hour  and  a 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES,  MAR  AH,  AND  ELIM.  195 


half  of  hopeless  confusion,  loud,  incessant  talk,  and  shift¬ 
less  bustling.  Our  dragoman,  Joseph  Tannus,  his  stout, 
plucky,  and  admirable  servant  Ibrahim,  and  the  cook,  were 
the  only  persons  who  seemed  to  know  just  what  to  do  and 
how.  The  particular  function  and  effort  of  each  Arab 
seemed  to  be  to  escape  hard  work,  and  to  save  his  own 
camel  from  heavy  burdens.  There  were  some  camels,  how¬ 
ever,  that  seemed  to  have  no  friends.  Our  sheikh,  Selim, 
was  a  mild  and  kindly  man,  apparently  without  much  force 
or  authority,  and  with  no  very  intense  attachment  to  the 
truth.  Joseph  did  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  him  a  liar. 
His  principal  marks  of  distinction  were  a  brand-new  tur¬ 
ban,  a  present  from  the  dragoman  on  concluding  their  bar¬ 
gain,  and  the  privilege  of  riding  a  camel,  for  which  the 
dragoman  had  to  pay,  but  which  Selim,  with  a  prudent  econ¬ 
omy,  dispensed  with,  and  saved  his  money  by  trudging  on 
foot.  Here  too  he  practised  a  further  economy  by  going 
barefooted  most  of  the  time,  reserving  his  sandals  for  hard 
and  rough  places.  The  other  Arabs  all  imitated  his  exam¬ 
ple  in  this  respect ;  and  two  or  three  of  them  afterward 
appealed  to  our  sympathies  by  showing  us  great  cracks  in 
their  feet.  We  gave  them  the  sympathy,  but  not  the  back¬ 
sheesh.  That  was  so  arranged  with  Joseph. 

By  the  resolute  bearing  of  Joseph  Tannus,  seconded  by 
the  sturdy  vigor  of  Ibrahim  and  the  voiceless  industry  of 
the  cook,  accompanied  by  some  sharp  words,  now  and  then 
a  decided  pull  or  even  a  solid  push,  all  was  arranged,  and 
we  were  off.  It  was  a  large  apparatus  to  convey  four  men. 
Besides  our  three  Syrian  attendants,  there  were  at  the  start 
ei«;ht  Arabs  and  fourteen  camels.  EiHit  of  these  camels 
were  for  ourselves  and  four  other  mounted  persons  (the  drag¬ 
oman,  servant,  cook,  sheikh),  and  the  others  for  burdens. 
The  camels  that  we  rode  also  carried  our  valises  and  some 


t 


196 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


lio-ht  things,  which  the  Arabs  rather  steadilv  endeavored  to 
increase  more  than  was  suitable.  We  four  and  the  drago¬ 
man  usually  rode  in  a  cavalcade  by  ourselves,  till  we  left 
Nuklil.  Ibrahim  led  the  other  company,  seated  on  a  great 
pile  of  light  wares.  Conspicuous  afar  off  also  was  the  cook, 
wearing  a  sort  of  dingy-wliite  night-cap-looking  head-gear, 
and  perpetually  muffled  like  a  mummy  from  top  to  toe,  as 
he  rode  along,  seemingly  insensible  to  all  earthly  things, 
until  when  at  night  he  seated  himself  on  a  low  stool  by  the 
fire  and  gave  his  whole  mind  to  the  dinner.  Our  loaded 
camels  carried  two  tents  for  us  four,  a  light  lunch-tent  for 
noon,  and  for  the  dragoman  and  his  aids  a  fourth  tent, 
which  was  expanded  on  one  side  for  a  kitchen.  Each  of 
our  two  tents  was  furnished  with  two  folding  iron  bed¬ 
steads  and  suitable  bedclothes,  matting  for  the  ground,  and 
a  table  having  a  showy  Oriental  cover.  On  show  occasions 
a  lighted  lantern  hung  at  our  tent  door,  and  every  evening 
candles  within  enabled  us  to  read  or  write  at  pleasure.  A 
huge  and  heavy  kitchen  chest  carried  an  abundant  supply 
of  table-ware  for  the  several  courses  of  our  meals.  Our 
water  was  always  good  and  abundant.  It  was  procured 
from  good  fountains  (at  first  from  the  Nile  water  at  Suez), 
and  was  carried,  not  in  skin  bags  or  bottles,  but  in  two  long 
iron-hooped  casks  furnished  with  locks,  and  strung  one  on 
each  side  of  a  strong  camel.  The  Arabs  carried  their  own 
supply  in  skin  bottles.  A  coop  of  turkeys  that  gobbled 
along  the  way,  another  of  chickens  that  had  their  liberty 
when  we  reached  the  camp-ground,  finding  no  inducement 
to  part  from  our  company,  a  box  of  pigeons,  a  crate  of 
oranges  that  lasted  us  till  we  found  a  fresh  supply  at  He¬ 
bron,  were  obvious  to  the  eye ;  while  packed  away  out  of 
sight  were  hard-boiled  eggs,  a  supply  of  excellent  bread, 
canned  meats,  tongue,  ham,  sausage,  rice,  potatoes,  jellies. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES ,  MAR  AH,  AND  ELIM  197 


nuts,  figs,  raisins,  dates,  prunes,  and  various  minor  things. 
Mutton  and  gazelle  meat  we  found  on  the  way.  The  mur¬ 
muring  Israelites  would  have  complained  still  more  bitterly 
could  they  have  seen  a  company  provided  with  such  com¬ 
fort  and  luxury  upon  their  very  track.  As  we  moved  forth 
one  of  the  Bedouin  marched  with  sword  and  gun — the  gun 
of  antique  pattern  and  the  sword  of  clumsy  form — and  sev¬ 
eral  others  had  swords  slung -at  their  sides.  But  after  the 
first  day  or  two  of  exhibition,  these  mostly  disappeared. 
We  ourselves  carried  three  revolvers,  but,  like  the  weapons 
of  the  Arabs,  they  were  wholly  for  the  impression  of  the 
thing.  They  showed  what  wre  could  do  if  we  would,  but 
what  we  would  not  do  on  any  provocation.  From  this 
point  of  view  they  were  quite  impressive,  and  highly  useful 
on  condition  of  never  being  used. 

During  the  forenoon  of  this  day  we  passed  some  twenty- 
five  larger  or  smaller  depressions,  each  of  them  with  lines 
of  vegetation  along  their  courses.  The  shrubs  were  just  be¬ 
ginning  their  spring  growth,  the  buds  being  not  yet  quite 
fully  opened.  The  largest  wady  was  Wady  Wardan  (nine 
hours  and  three-quarters  from  Ayun  Musa),  a  shallow  de¬ 
pression  of  the  surface,  which  it  took  about  an  hour  to 
cross.  Its  whole  breadth  was  strung  with  lines  of  desert 
herbs.  Down  this  valley,  about  two  miles  from  the  sea,  is 
the  fountain  of  Bir  Aboo  Suweirah,  laid  down  on  all  the 
maps,  but 'not  very  particularly  described.  Robinson,  who 
did  not  visit  it,  says  that  it  yields  “  a  small  quantity  of 
sweet-water,  but  dries  up  when  the  rains  fail  for  a  season. 51 
Mr.  Holland  says  there  are  “two  water -holes  about  eight 
feet  deep.  A  few  stunted  palm-trees  grew  near  them.  The 
water-holes  might  be  increased  by  digging.  The  water  is 
slightly  brackish,  but  drinkable.” 

After  lunch  (from  one  till  two  o’clock)  we  passed  for  two 


198 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


hours  and  a  half  over  a  region  almost  utterly  destitute  of 
any  green  thing.  Even  Wady  Amarah,  a  comparatively 
deep  depression,  showed  almost  no  vegetation  where  we 
crossed  it.  On  leaving  Wady  Amarah  the  path  rose  to  a 
somewhat  higher  level  among  hillocks  of  sandstone  and 
sand,  and  approached  nearer  the  range  of  Er  Rah  ah  than 
before.6  Just  before  five  o’clock  we  reached  Ain  Hawwa- 
rah,  somewhat  commonly  recognized  since  Burckhardt  as 
Marah  of  “  bitter  waters.”7  As  we  travelled  over  this  long 
desolate  way,  notwithstanding  the  coolness  of  the  morning 
and  the  earliness  of  the  season,  the  sun  had  poured  down 
on  us  heavily.  The  thermometer,  which  had  stood  but  two 
degrees  above  the  freezing-point  at  nine  o’clock,  indicated 
ninety-eight  degrees  in  the  sun  at  noon.  It  was  a  singular 
contrast  to  the  cold,  cutting  wind  of  Saturday.  The  heat 
continued  oppressive  till  we  reached  Hawwarah.  We  did 
not  wonder  that  the  Israelites,  who  passed  along  here  per¬ 
haps  a  month  later  in  the  season,  after  their  long,  hot,  and 
dreary  march,8  and  their  fresh  recollections  of  the  water  of 
the  Nile,  were  dreadfully  discouraged  when  they  reached 
Marah  and  found  no  good  water.  This  fountain  has  been 
often  described.  Its  condition  varies  somewhat  from  time 
to  time  in  the  surroundings  and  in  the  quality  of  the  water. 


6  Schubert  gives  the  height  of  the  locality  at  484  Paris  feet  above  the  sea,  as 
indicated  by  the  barometer. 

7  Burckhardt,  Reisen,  ii.  776;  Schubert,  Reisen,  ii.  274 ;  Robinson,  Research¬ 
es,  i.  97 ;  Grant,  Egypt  and  Sinai,  p.  197 ;  Strauss,  Sinai  and  Golgotha,  p.  97 ; 
Wellsted,  Reise  in  Arabien,  ii.  38;  Laval,  Voyage,  p.  215;  Tischendorf,  Reise 
in  den  Orient,  i.  18S;  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  p.  116.  So  also  Winer, 
Gesenius,  Keil,  Kurtz,  Fiirst. 

8  The  distance,  given  by  Burckhardt,  Ebers,  and  Laval  as  fifteen  and  a  fourth 
hours,  by  Robinson  sixteen  and  a  half,  found  by  ourselves  and  Graul  sixteen 
hours,  and  by  Tischendorf  fifteen  or  sixteen  hours,  would  be  a  good  “  three 
days’  ”  march  to  a  cumbered  host  like  the  Israelites ;  and  a  suitable  site  for 
Elim  is  also  found  in  due  time. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES \  MAR  AH,  AND  ELIM.  199 


It  is  in  tli g  centi  g  of  a  low  flat-topped  mound,  wlncli  is 
largely  a  calcareous  deposit,  and  which  perhaps  would  be 
found  to  have  been  formed  in  the  same  way  as  Ayun 
Miisa.  In  an  excavation  five  or  six  feet  in  circumference, 
some  two  feet  deep  stands  the  water.  Earlier  travellers 
(Bobinson  and  Bartlett)  found  ghurkud  shrubs  near  it, 
which  have  now  disappeared.  The  neighboring  clump  of 
palms  which  Burckhardt  saw  in  1812,  or  a  similar  one, 
still  remains  to  the  south  of  the  hill ;  and  still  nearer  the 
spring,  Bandall,  in  1861,  observed  the  stump  of  another 
palm.  A  few  desert  herbs  are  in  the  vicinity,  but  other¬ 
wise  all  around  it  is  a  region  of  barren  sand.  The  water 
seems  to  vary  in  quality.  Burckhardt  says  it  is  so  bitter 
that  men  cannot  drink  it,  nor  will  camels  unless  very 
thirsty.  Bobinson  found  the  water  two  feet  deep,  its  “  taste 
unpleasant,  saltish,  and  bitter,”  but  “  not  much  worse  than 
that  of  Ayfin  Miisa,”  although  his  Arabs  considered  it  to  be 
the  worst  water  in  all  these  regions.  Bartlett,  after  being 
told  by  his  Arabs  that  it  was  bad,  and  though  unable  to 
discern  anything  particularly  nauseous  about  it,  found  the 
effect  unpleasant,  resembling  that  of  Epsom  salts.  Ban¬ 
dall  calls  it  brackish,  salt,  and  unpleasant,  tasting  like  a 
weak  solution  of  Glauber’s  salts.  Ebers  found  it  “bitter.” 
He  saw  two  or  three  barrels  of  water  in  it,  and  a  channel 
in  the  side,  through  which  from  appearance  the  water  must 
formerly  have  run.  Wellsted  found  it  salt  and  bitter;  and 
his  Arabs  said  when,  as  he  held  some  of  the  water  in  his 
hand,  he  accidentally  used  the  name  Marah,  “  Thou  sayest 
the  truth,  it  is  morra .”  Graul  makes  the  same  remark,  and 
had  the  same  word  from  his  Arabs,  “Marah,  Marah.”  He 
found  that  in  want  of  better  water  the  Terabins  drank  of 
it.  So  when  Ebers  was  about  to  taste  it,  his  Arabs  called 
out  “  morra,”  bitter.  Laval  also  mentions  that  “  the  Arabs 


200 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


have  preserved  the  equivalents  of  the  Hebrew  name  Marah 
in  their  tongue,  £  moye  merra,,’  or  ‘  morra,’  signifying  bitter 
water.”  Tischendorf,  in  1859,  was  “  surprised  to  find  it 
less  disagreeable  and  bitter  than  in  1853.  Palmer  found  it 
“  bitter,”  but  “  drinkable  and  palatable.”  Mr.  Holland  re¬ 
marks  that  this  state  of  the  water  is  exceptional ;  that  it  is  at 
one  time  quite  drinkable,  and  at  another  so  bitter  as  to  be 
nauseous;  that  the  Arabs  never  drink  it  if  they  can  avoid 
it.  This  statement  of  Mr.  Holland  solves  the  whole  ques¬ 
tion.  The  water  at  times,  probably  when  the  flow  is  very 
copious  after  rains,  is  drinkable,  but  statedly  it  is  disagree¬ 
able  and  sometimes  even  nauseous.  The  palm-bushes  near 
it  are  the  first  that  the  traveller  encounters  after  leaving 
Ayun  Musa. 

In  favor  of  this  place  as  the  Marah  of  the  Scriptures, 
there  are  the  distances  from  Ayun  Musa  (a  fair  “three  days’ 
journey”  for  such  a  company),  the  fact  that  it  is  the  first 
water  lying  directly  on  their  track,  and  the  expectation  nat¬ 
urally  awakened  by  the  palm-bush  indications,  the  quality 
of  the  water  itself,  still  presented  and  still  recognized,  the 
correspondence  of  the  next  station,  Elim,  and  perhaps  we 
may  add  the  not  unsuitable  camping-ground  a  little  be¬ 
yond  the  place. 

There  are  some  who  object  to  this  view,  among  others 
Lepsius.  Having  framed  a  very  different  itinerary,  he  ob¬ 
jected  to  this  identification.9  But  the  weight  of  his  objec¬ 
tions  is  naturally  diminished  by  the  circumstances  that  he 
had  not  travelled  over  this  portion  of  the  coast,  and  be¬ 
ing  obliged  to  depend  on  the  statements  of  others,  that  he 
labored  under  several  positive  errors  of  fact  as  to  the  re¬ 
spective  distances.  He  also  objects  to  the  lack  of  pasturage 


9  Lepsius,  Letters  from  Egypt  (Bohn’s  edition),  p.  207. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES \  MARAH,  AND  ELIM.  201 


around.  But  in  February,  1850,  Laval  found  a  portion  of 
the  tribe  of  Terabins,  with  their  flocks,  encamped  in  the 
wady  ILawwarah,  north-west  of  the  fountain ;  and  again,  in 
March,  he  saw  more  than  fifty  of  their  camels  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  of  it.  Schubert  also  speaks  of  a  small  basin-like 
valley  opposite  the  fountain,  to  the  north,  that  he  visited, 
which  seemed  as  though  it  were  enclosed  and  arranged  for 
a  camping  place.  It  was  (February  20th)  grown  up  and 
blooming  with  “herbs  of  rich  foliage,  indicating  the  good 
condition  of  the  soil.”  At  no  great  distance  south,  as  will 
presently  be  mentioned,  we  also  crossed  a  large  amount  of 
vegetation. 

It  was  objected,  however,  that  the  quantity  of  water  is 
too  slight  to  meet  the  conditions  of  the  case.  But  Mr.  IIol- 
land  has  remarked  that  “  the  thick  calcareous  deposit  seems 
to  prove  that  the  water-supply  was  formerly  larger  than  at 
the  present  time.”  Robinson  thought  he  recognized  “traces 
of  running  water  round  about.”  To  this  may  be  added  that 
the  palm-trees  growing  at  some  little  distance  would  indi¬ 
cate  water  beneath  the  surface  in  other  points  than  at  the 
Hillock  itself.  Schubert,  moreover,  maintains  that  the  path 
to  the  adjacent  valle}^  “  is  in  many  places  moist.”10  Graul 
learned  in  Cairo,  after  his  return  from  Sinai,  that  “  the  noted 
Sheikh  Tuweileb  knows  of  a  fountain  so  bitter  that  it  is 
drunk  neither  by  men  nor  beasts.  It  lies  on  the  hills  to  the 
right  (north)  of  Ain  Hawwarah  at  Tell  el  Amarah,  and  a 
path  conducts  directly  from  it  to  the  water  in  Wady  Gha- 
randel,”  farther  south.11  If  this  statement  can  be  received, 
it  indicates  a  wider  region  of  bitter  water.  But  in  any  case, 
the  aspect  of  Hawwarah  and  the  immediate  vicinity  is  suf¬ 
ficient  to  obviate  objections  from  the  small  amount  of  water 


10  Reise,  ii.  274 


11  Graul,  p.  198. 


202 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


iii  this  one  fountain.  There  is  no  object  to  excavate  in  other 
places  for  more  water,  since  no  one  uses  it  except  in  an 
emergency.  The  Arabs  do  not  even  take  particular  pains  to 
keep  the  fountain  open.  We  found  the  basin  very  nearly 
full  of  sand,  probably  blown  in  by  the  storm  of  Saturday.12 
Ho  water  was  flowing,  and  the  sand  was  dry  upon  the  sur¬ 
face.  It  was  only  by  digging  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  that 
we  reached  the  water.  Indeed,  it  does  not  clearly  appear 
that  at  any  time  the  water  has  actually  flowed.  Mr.  Palm¬ 
er  asserts  the  meaning  of  the  name  Ain  Hawwarah  to  be, 
not  “  fountain  of  destruction  ”  (as  given  by  Pobinson),  but 
the  designation  of  “  a  small  pool  which  sinks  into  the  soil  by 
little  and  little,  leaving  the  remainder  unfit  to  drink.”13  Ho 
traveller  mentions  having  seen  the  water  actually  flowing 
out.  The  general  agreement  of  travellers  to  recognize  this 
spot  as  Marah  is  as  noticeable  as  is  the  general  validity  of 
the  reasons  on  which  the  opinion  rests. 

As  we  passed  southward  from  Ain  Hawwarah  we  soon 
crossed  a  depression  where  for  about  two  miles  the  way  was 
studded  thick  with  lines  of  shrubs.  Schubert  specifies  six 
different  species  of  vegetation  which  he  found  at  Hawwarah 
and  southward  of  it.14  Robinson,  who  appears  from  this 
point  to  have  kept  a  little  to  the  eastward  of  our  track,  saw 
on  his  left  in  half  an  hour  a  small  plain  or  basin  in  which 
water  stands  after  abundant  rains,  causing  a  soil  of  rich 
loam,  which  produces  a  luxuriant  vegetation.  He  also  saw 
a  few  goats  feeding  on  the  hills  around,  watched  by  fe¬ 
males. 

During  the  day  the  sea  was  occasionally  in  sight.  We 


12  Mr.  G.  S.  Drew  found  it  “  a  sanded-up  fountain.”  Colenso’s  Examination  of 
the  Pentateuch,  p.  48.  13  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  40. 

14  Lepidium  Draba ;  Matthiolum  tricuspidata ;  Farsitia  Egyptiaca  ;  Diplotanis 
pendula;  Frankenia;  Nitraria  tridentata. 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES,  MAR  AH,  AND  ELIM.  203 


also  met  do  less  than  sixtv  camels  loaded  with  charcoal  from 

€/ 

the  peninsula,  and  thirty  loaded  with  grindstones.  Randall 
mentions  a  company  of  camels,  also  loaded  with  bags  of 
charcoal,  that  he  met  a  few  miles  farther  along,  south  of 
Wady  Useit.  Other  travellers  speak  of  the  same  thing. 
Burckhardt,  in  1812,  found  an  Arab  spending  several  weeks 
in  Wady  Shellal  in  burning  coal,  and  at  Hudherah  several 
others  preparing  it  for  transportation  to  Cairo.15  Brugsch 
encountered  camels  loaded  with  charcoal  for  Cairo.16  We 
afterward  had  abundant  occasion  to  see  how  recklessly  the 
wood  of  the  country  is  thus  destroyed  by  the  Arabs,  and  we 
have  means  of  knowing  that  the  process  lias  long  been  go¬ 
ing  on.  W.  H.  Bartlett  alludes  to  this  habit  of  destroying 
the  trees.17  Mehemet  Ali,  in  182S,  imposed  an  annual  trib¬ 
ute  of  charcoal  on  the  Arabs  of  the  peninsula.18  Ludolpli  of 
Suthem,  in  1336,  speaks  of  the  lay  brothers  of  Sinai  as  sell¬ 
ing  coal  and  dates  in  great  quantity  in  Cairo.19  It  appears 
to  be  the  most  regular  business  of  the  natives. 

Our  path  at  length  led  us  upon  a  higher  limestone  re¬ 
gion,  strewn  with  flints.  At  last  we  turned  round  a  rocky 
ledge,  and  in  one  hour  fifty-five  minutes  from  Ain  Haw- 
warali  we  entered  Wadv  Gharandel,  as  the  darkness  came 
upon  us  rapidly.  We  followed  the  wady  toward  the  sea,  be¬ 
tween  high  banks  on  both  sides,  till,  in  a  little  circle  of  trees 
and  shrubs,  we  found  our  tents  nearly  ready,  and  gladly 
took  shelter  and  rest,  after  being  about  ten  hours  (nine  hours 
and  forty-five  minutes)  in  the  saddle.  Excepting  the  Arabs 
and  camels,  the  only  living  things  we  had  seen  during  the 
day  were  a  dog  accompanying  his  master,  ten  or  twelve  ra¬ 
vens,  and  a  dragon-fly.  Arriving  in  camp  about  seven,  it 


15  Reise,  p.  808,  983. 

17  Forty  Days  in  the  Desert,  p.  41. 
19  Ibid.  p.  562. 


16  Wanderung,  p.  98. 

18  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  233. 


204 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


was  past  eleven  when  dinner  was  over.  But,  as  during  all 
our  subsequent  camp-life,  the  vigorous  exercise  and  fresh  air 
of  the  day  gave  us  excellent  digestions  and  delightful  sleep. 
We  drank  at  dinner,  and  took  with  us  for  supply  on  our 
farther  journey,  water  from  the  stream  near  by,  which  most 
modern  scholars  accept  as  Elim.  It  was  excellent. 

The  morning  of  February  10th  opened  clear  and  cool,  the 
thermometer  marking  thirty-seven  degrees  at  nine  o’clock. 
The  morning’s  light  disclosed  the  situation  of  our  camp,  in 
the  midst  of  a  circle  of  tamarisks,  relieved  by  five  small 
palm-trees,  two  of  them  close  by  our  tent,  some  ghurkud- 
buslies,  and  perhaps  a  few  small  acacias.  Three  little  birds 
were  chirping  about  while  we  breakfasted.  After  breakfast 
we  hastened  to  the  stream,  some  twenty  rods  away.  In  the 
west  bed  of  the  wady  the  water  was  oozing  from  the  earth 
in  two  places  a  few  rods  apart,  and  a  little  farther  down  it 
came  out  from  beneath  the  bank,  and  in  one  or  two  other 
places  along  the  level  bed  still  below.  It  runs  off  in  two  or 
three  brisk  streamlets.  After  a  deliberate  calculation  on  the 
spot,  we  agreed  that  two  barrels  a  minute  was  a  small  reck¬ 
oning  of  the  supply  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of 
the  source.  Probably  a  careful  examination  would  have 
disclosed  still  other  sources  below.  The  bushes  on  the  sides 
showed  that  very  lately  the  water  had  covered  a  space  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide  to  the  depth  of  two  feet. 
Pushing:  across  the  stream  to  another  cluster  of  trees  on 
the  north-western  side,  here  I  counted  about  thirty  young 
palm-trees,  and  as  many  as  ten  old  stumps,  several  of  which 
showed  marks  of  fire.  Bonar,  in  1855,  counted  eighty  palm- 
trees,  and  then  ceased  counting.  All  around  this  large 
space  the  soil  was  moist,  and  looked  as  though  water  would 
be  readily  reached  by  excavation.  Two  spots  appeared  like 
wells  that  had  been  filled  up.  Several  little  birds  were 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES ,  MARAH ,  AND  ELIM. 


205 


twittering  around,  and  I  plucked  two  kinds  of  flowers  thus 
early  in  the  year.  A  very  large  area  around  was  enclosed 
by  a  sheltering  circle  of  hills,  perhaps  sixty  feet  high;  and  as 
we  looked  back  upon  the  place  on  leaving  it,  we  could  not 
help  thinking  what  an  admirable  and  inviting  spot  for  a 
large  encampment.  The  water  we  found  to  be  excellent — as 
good  as  the  Nile  water.  And  nowhere  on  the  peninsula  ex¬ 
cept  at  Wady  Feiran  did  “we  find  it  so  copious. 

Nearly  every  traveller  and  scholar  from  the  time  of 
Burckhardt  have  recognized  this  as  the  Elim  of  the  Bible 
(Exod.  xv.  27),  where  were  twelve  wells  of  water  and  three¬ 
score  and  ten  palm  -  trees.20  The  relative  situation,  next 
to  Marah  and  a  very  short  march  from  it,  the  abundant 
water  and  the  trees,  and  all  the  peculiarly  marked  and  in¬ 
viting  features  of  the  place,  make  the  supposition  in  the 
highest  degree  credible,  and  render  it  even  improbable  that 
it  should  not  have  been  occupied  as  a  camping-place. 

It  is  true  that  not  all  travellers  have  seen  it  under  cir¬ 
cumstances  so  favorable  as  did  we.  The  quality  of  the 
water,  and  possibly  the  supply,  when  we  visited  it  must 
have  been  exceptional.  Robinson  crossed  the  valley  above 
the  spring,  but  his  Arabs  procured  water  for  him  about  half 
an  hour  below,  “  from  fountains  with  a  running  brook.”  It 
was  brackish.  Randall  found  no  running  streams,  but  the 
water  filtered  into  holes  dug  one  or  two  feet  deep  in  the 
dry  channel.  Did  he  reach  the  real  fountain  ?  The  water, 
he  says,  had  “  an  earthy,  brackish  taste,  far  inferior  to  our 
Nile  water.”  He  speaks  of  the  large  comparative  amount 

20  In  addition  to  the  names  given  in  connection  with  Marah  may  be  mentioned 
Knobel,  Kalisch,  Murphy,  Holland,  as  among  those  who  have  regarded  Gharan- 
del  as  Elim.  Laborde,  Lepsius,  and  Ewald  are  the  most  notable  exceptions ; 
the  first  (with  Dr.  Wilson)  holding  Wady  Useit,  the  second  Wady  Shebeikeh, 
the  third  Wady  Taiyibeh.  to  be  Elim. 


200 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


of  vegetation,  fifteen  or  twenty  palm-trees,  against  the  roots 
of  one  of  which  the  reckless  Arabs  had  recently  kindled  a 
fire,  lie  mentions  the  marks  of  freshets  that  had  filled  the 
tamarisk  shrubs  to  the  height  of  several  feet  with  mud, 
decayed  leaves,  and  bits  of  brush.  Ebers  found  the  water 
in  few  places  deep  enough  to  carry  a  boy’s  bark-boat,  but 
heard  the  song  of  birds,  and  saw  palms,  tamarisks,  and  aca¬ 
cias,  and  strips  of  grass  and  herbs,  affording  pasturage  for 
camels.  Palmer  found  a  pleasant  stream  of  running  wa¬ 
ter,  and  “  at  one  point  a  broken  rock  and  a  slight  change 
in  the  level  of  the  stream  afforded  an  opportunity  to  bathe.” 
Burekhardt  found  a  brook.  Bussegger  and  Strauss  speak 
of  the  excellent  equality  of  the  water.  Tischendorf,  who 
had  tasted  it  several  times,  and  “  seen  it  many  times  flowing 
a  full  stream,”  found  it  “  always  palatable.”  W.  H.  Bart¬ 
lett  found  it  welling  out  at  the  foot  of  a  sandstone  rock, 
forming  a  small  pool,  trickling  off,  and  at  length  forming  a 
reedy  marsh  interspersed  with  bushes  and  dwarf  palm-trees, 
tamarisk  and  other  shrubs ;  “  and  as  there  are  also  consider¬ 
able  masses  of  similar  vegetation  above  this  point,  there  are 
probably  several  other  springs  that  nourish  it.”  Bussegger 
mentions  the  high  grass  that  furnishes  pasturage.  Mr.  Hol¬ 
land  describes  the  whole  case  thus,  and  virtually  accounts 
for  the  somewhat  varying  statements  of  travellers,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  time  and  place  of  their  crossing  the  wady:  “  Just 
below  the  point  where  the  road  crosses  [Wady  Gliarandel], 
several  water-holes  are  found,  which  have  been  frequently 
described.  But  it  is  not  generally  known  how  large  a  sup¬ 
ply  of  water  is  to  be  found  about  two  miles  lower  down 
the  wady.  A  stream  here  gradually  oozes  out  from  the 
bed  of  the  wady,  and  soon  forms  considerable  pools  of  wa¬ 
ter,  which  are  overgrown  with  rushes,  and  affords  a  favorite 
resort  for  wild-ducks  and  other  birds.  An  abundant  supply 


THE  WELLS  OF  MOSES \  MARAH ,  AND  ELLM. 


207 


of  water  is  to  be  found  here  during  tlie  whole  year.  The 
banks  of  the  stream  and  dry  pools  from  which  the  water 
has  evaporated  are  often  covered  with  a  white  deposit  of 
natron,  and  the  standing  water  is  brackish  and  unwhole¬ 
some  :  but  when  running  briskly  and  freshly  drawn,  it  is 
very  drinkable,  and  the  traveller’s  water-skins  are  generally 
filled  here  on  his  way  to  and  from  the  south.  The  lower 
portions  of  Wady  Gharandel  are  well  clothed  with  tama¬ 
risks  and  palms,  and  a  few  tents  of  the  Terabin  Arabs  are 
generally  to  be  found  here.”21 

The  head  of  Wady  Gharandel,  as  explored  by  Palmer,  is 
“a  broad,  open  space  broken  up  with  sand-hills,  and  cov¬ 
ered  with  the  tracks  of  numberless  gazelles,  ibexes,  and  oth¬ 
er  animals.” 


21  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  416. 


208 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  ENCAMPMENT  BY  THE  SEA,  AND  THE  WILDERNESS  OF  SIN. 

At  eight  and  three-quarters  o’clock,  February  10th,  we 
were  on  our  way.  We  ascertained  the  distance  of  Jebel 
Hammam  Farun  to  be  five  and  sixty -five  hundredths  miles 
south,  two  and  one-fourth  degrees  west,  and  the  variation 
of  the  compass  to  be  thirteen  degrees  thirty  minutes.  The 
thermometer  marked  five  degrees  above  the  freezing-point 
at  seven  o’clock,  but  gradually  rose  to  fifty-nine  degrees. 
As  we  left  Wady  Gharandel,  the  country  became  more 
rough,  broken,  and  rocky ;  flint-stones  were  scattered  along 
the  path,  and  we  were  more  closely  surrounded  by  lime¬ 
stone  cliffs.  Numerous  camels  were  browsing  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  of  the  wady.  Among  them  we  saw  several  very 
young  animals,  one  not  more  than  three  days  old.  The 
young  of  almost  all  animals,  whether  kitten,  calf,  colt,  or 
even  pig,  are  graceful  and  pretty.  But  a  young  camel  is 
as  ungraceful  a  creature  as  ever  made  his  appearance  on 
the  earth.  Lank,  bony,  and  spider-legged,  every  line  about 
him  not  a  curve  but  a  crook,  he  looks  as  though  he  was 
made  for  the  witches  to  ride  on  their  midnight  expeditions. 

In  one  of  the  smaller  wadies  (I  think  Wady  Telmin), 
which  we  reached  at  ten  o’clock,  we  found  four  or  five  va¬ 
rieties  of  wild  flowers  in  bloom,  and  in  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  more  we  crossed  Wady  Useit,  which  a  few  persons 
have  supposed  to  be  Elim.  W.  II.  Bartlett,  indeed,  who 
had  followed  it  up  from  its  mouth  near  the  sea-shore,  imag- 


THE  ENCAMPMENT  BY  THE  SEA. 


209 


ined  that  the  Israelites  must  have  done  the  same.  But  his 
own  description  of  the  intense  toil  and  oppressive  heat, 
“the  groans  of  distressed  camels,”  his  own  “gasping  and 
exhausted  ”  condition,  and  even  the  severe  sufferings  of  the 
Arabs,  as  they  wound  along  a  narrow  bed  of  sand,  “  some¬ 
times  but  wide  enough  to  admit  a  camel  or  two  abreast, 
between  towering  walls  many  hundred  feet  high,”  with  a 
broiling  sun  pouring  down,  shows  how  singularly  improba¬ 
ble  it  is  that  they  should  have  chosen  such  a  way,  when  the 
direct  and  perfectly  easy  one  by  which  we  came  was  open 
before  them.  Mr.  Holland  briefly  confirms  his  account  by 
saying  that  Wady  Useit  is  “  too  steep  and  narrow  for  loaded 
camels  to  climb  without  great  difficulty.” 

Nor  could  the  Israelites  have  passed  along  the  coast  with¬ 
out  coming  up  Wady  Useit.  For,  as  Bartlett  says,  “  Jebel 
Hammam,  bold  and  striking,  dropped  its  huge  mountain 
mass  sheer  into  the  sea  beyond  the  plain,  and  effectually 
blocked  up  further  progress  along  the  shore.”  The  Israel¬ 
ites  would  not  have  left  their  path,  to  regain  it  by  pro¬ 
ceeding  up  Wady  Useit.  Mr.  Palmer  also  remarks  that 
the  “  cliffs  of  Jebel  Hammam  cut  off  progress  along  the 
shore.”  When  we  crossed  Wady  Useit,  therefore,  we  were 
undoubtedly  still  on  the  track  of  the  Hebrews.  Here  I 
counted  fourteen  palm-trees,  scattered  more  or  less,  and  two 
of  them  some  distance  beyond  the  others.  There  were  also 
retem-bushes.  For  some  distance  the  soil  was  moist,  and 
in  one  place  a  little  water  was  visible.  The  Arabs  said 
that  the  water  was  bad.  The  soil  in  many  spots  was  cov¬ 
ered  with  white.  The  limestone  cliffs  were  not  far  awav. 
We  had  also  begun  to  encounter,  and  continued  during  the 
day  to  pass,  numerous  thorny  acacias  (“  shittim  wood  ”), 
here,  however,  of  small  size. 

Bobinson  found  “  a  little  brackish  water  standing  in 

14 


210 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


holes/’  and  the  valley  “resembling  Gharandel,  but  not  so 
large.”  Randall  found  “  the  water  that  stood  in  the  pools 
so  salt  and  brackish  as  to  be  unfit  for  use.”  Graul  calls  it 
“a  very  salt  rivulet.”  Seetzen  “observed  here  a  very  small 
salt  pool  or  well.”  Schubert’s  Arabs  found  water  only  by 
diffffinsr.  Some  writers,  as  has  been  mentioned,  have  tak- 
en  this  for  the  Elim  of  the  Scriptures.  The  only  reasons 
alleged  are  the  short  distance  of  Gharandel  from  the  sta- 
tion  Marah,  and  the  comparatively  long  march  from  Gha¬ 
randel  to  the  encampment  by  the  sea,  nearly  eight  hours. 
To  the  first  it  may  be  said  that  there  was  no  special  pres¬ 
sure  now  upon  the  Israelites  to  cause  haste,  and  a  favorable 
halting  and  resting  place  like  Gharandel  would  constitute  a 
valid  and  decisive  reason  for  an  early  halt.  It  is  constant¬ 
ly  so  done  at  the  present  day,  even  in  smaller  companies. 
The  longer  subsequent  march  (seven  and  a  half  hours,  as 
we  made  it)  would  be  partly  explained  by  the  same  motive, 
the  desire  to  reach  a  favorable  place ;  it  would  have  been 
rendered  easier  by  the  shorter  journey  preceding ;  and  fur¬ 
ther  yet,  we  are  at  liberty  to  understand,  if  necessary,  that 
though  the  head-quarters  of  Moses  and  his  elders  reached 
the  sea-side  encampment,  the  mass  of  the  people  may  have 
followed  at  various  distances  as  they  could,  lingering  per¬ 
haps  in  Wady  Taiyibeh. 

On  the  other  hand  it  seems  incredible  that  such  a  favor¬ 
able  and  favorite  camping-ground  as  Gharandel,  after  the 
experience  of  Marah,  should  have  been  passed  by,  to  halt 
in  a  place  every  way  inferior,  and  especially  defective  in 
regard  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of  its  water.  The  gen¬ 
eral  opinion  in  favor  of  Gharandel  would  seem  to  be  thor¬ 
oughly  well-founded. 

From  Wady  Useit  our  track  carried  us  in  a  south-easterly 
direction,  leaving  the  high  dark  mass  of  Jebel  Hammam 


THE  ENCAMPMENT  BY  THE  SEA. 


211 


Farun  on  the  right.  Over  beyond  it,  according  to  the 
Arab  tradition,  is  the  place  where  Pharaoh,  after  long  strug¬ 
gling  with  the  waves,  finally  sank  beneath  the  boiling  wa¬ 
ters,  and  his  ghost  still  haunts  the  sea.  The  hot  spring,  of 
the  temperature  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  degrees,  that 
trickles  forth  from  its  western  cliff  and  mingles  at  once 
with  the  sea,  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  local¬ 
ity  of  the  tradition. 

We  lunched  in  Wady  Ethal,  where  there  was  considera¬ 
ble  vegetation  of  low  shrubs,  which  our  camels  began  im¬ 
mediately  to  eat.  There  was  no  visible  water,  but  three 
small  palms  were  a  good  indication  that  it  might  probably 
be  found  by  digging.  We  saw  a  few  small  birds  a  little 
farther  on.  Wady  Ethal  runs  toward  the  sea,  but  it  was 
explored  by  Captain  Wilson  and  Mr.  Palmer,  and  found  to 
be  impassable  even  for  foot-passengers.  In  keeping  on, 
therefore,  into  Wady  Shebeikeh,  the  only  alternative  route, 
we  were  clearly  still  on  the  track  of  Israel.  Put  after  a 
little,  Wady  Shebeikeh,  running  somewhat  east  of  south¬ 
east,  is  met  by  Wady  Hamr,  which  runs  a  little  north  of 
west.  From  the  point  of  junction  Wady  Taiyibeh  runs  di¬ 
rectly  to  the  sea-side.  The  northern  route  to  Sinai  pro¬ 
ceeds  up  Wady  ITamr.  The  southern  follows  down  Tai¬ 
yibeh.  We  took  the  southern,  reserving  the  other  for  a 
future  exploration.  In  direction  Taiyibeh  is  almost  a  con¬ 
tinuation  of  Shebeikeh.  A  little  bird  welcomed  us  to  it 
with  a  sons;.  High  cliffs  rose  on  both  sides.  In  the  mid- 
die  of  it,  for  some  distance,  ran  a  depression  about  four 
feet  deep,  as  clear  and  sharp  as  a  railway  cut.  The  valley 
showed  signs  of  recent  rains.  A  sharp  bend  to  the  right 
brought  us  to  a  place  of  remarkable  echo,  which  we  tested 
with  abundance  of  strange  sounds.  The  valley  continued 
to  wind  between  high  cliffs,  till,  after  about  an  hour  from 


212 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  entrance,  the  sight  of  bushy  palm-trees  indicated  water. 
We  found  it  issuing  from  a  bed  of  rock,  and  running  off 
in  a  small  stream,  less  than  at  Gharandel.  It  was  not  so 
good  as  that  of  Gharandel,  but  better  than  Ayiin  Musa, 
and  though  brackish,  was  drinkable.  After  running  for 
some  distance,  it  seemed  to  sink  into  the  sand.  There 
were  trunks  of  large  palm-trees  lying  prostrate,  and  from 
twenty  to  thirty  smaller  ones  growing.  Farther  along  the 
water  seemed  to  have  swept  with  such  violence  as  to  have 
destroyed  vegetation,  except  here  and  there  a  tamarisk,  and 
left  almost  no  chance  for  it  to  grow.  Along  the  line  of 
this  valley  the  limestone  of  the  northern  region  meets  the 
sandstone,  with  a  noticeable  mixture  of  white  and  dark. 
As  we  neared  the  end  of  the  valley,  the  effect  of  the  light 
and  shade  upon  the  dark  hues  of  the  southern  side  was 
singularly  fine.  There  was  yellowish  brown  at  the  top, 
then  burnt -umber,  then  purple,  red,  and  yellow  below. 
Turning  the  corner  at  the  end  of  the  valley,  our  tents  stood 
on  the  left,  the  Fed  Sea  glistened  and  rippled  in  front,  and 
a  spacious  area  lay  spread  out  between  the  hillside  and  the 
water’s  edge.  It  was  a  sandy  plan,  extending  some  four 
or  five  miles  along  the  shore,  shut  in  by  a  range  of  wild 
cliffs,  and  terminated  by  a  high  promontory  on  the  north, 
and  a  rocky  wall  approaching  close  to  the  sea  on  the  south. 
There  is  scarcely  room  for  doubt  that  here  was  the  “  En¬ 
campment  by  the  Sea,”  and  that  down  this  very  valley  of 
Taiyibeh  the  Israelites  had  travelled  before  us.  Here  was 
room  for  a  great  camp.  I  walked  about  a  mile  from  our 
tents  to  the  sea,  and  picked  up  shells  and  corals  on  the  shore. 
The  sun  went  down  amid  a  gorgeous  array  of  bright  clouds 
behind  the  hi  Ml  mountain  ran^e  west  of  the  sea.  In  the 
evening  the  stars  shone  out  with  that  wronderfnl  brightness 
that  made  Oriental  astronomers  and  astrologers. 


THE  ENCAMPMENT  BY  THE  SEA. 


213 


On  February  lltli  we  left  camp  at  eight  o'clock.  For 
nearly  three  hours  we  kept  along  the  coast,  occasionally 
picking  up  shells,  corals,  and  sponges,  looking  out  over  the 
water,  that  glittered  like  an  infinity  of  diamonds  and  a 
“numberless  smile”  in  the  morning  sun,  and  turning  often 
to  gaze  upon  the  party-colored  ruin-shaped  cliffs  immediate¬ 
ly  on  our  left.  “  They  are  composed,”  says  Schubert,  “  of 
red  sandstone,  with  porphyry,  variegated  sandstone,  and 
flint-bearing  chalk.”  At  length  we  reached  a  place  where 
there  was  but  fifteen  feet  between  the  vertical  rock  and  the 
sea,  and  where  the  wet  surface  made  it  evident  that  at  high 
water  the  sea  actually  beat  against  the  cliffs.  Mount  Ser- 
bal  here  came  in  sight.  Burekhardt,  on  his  return  from  Si¬ 
nai,  was  unable  to  pass  this  cliff,  and  was  obliged  to  climb 
the  hill.  Ebers  did  the  same.  Immediately  beyond  we 
came  upon  the  northern  point  of  a  plain  that  extends  some 
twenty-five  miles  down  the  coast,  the  plain  of  El  Murkha, 
now  quite  commonly  believed  to  be  the  Wilderness  of  Sin1 
(Exod.  xvi.).  If  we  assume  the  journey  of  the  Israelites  to 
have  been  by  the  lower  route  from  this  point,  there  would 
seem  to  be  no  place  which  answers  so  well.  The  plain 
stretches  away  south  to  the  mouth  of  Wady  Feiran.  Our 
way,  however,  lay  nearly  east  across  its  northern  end.  It 
was  a  dead  level,  covered  with  occasional  tufts  of  desert 
shrubs,  which  the  camels  clutched  at  greedily  in  passing. 
The  sun  poured  down  intensely,  and  the  thermometer  stood 
at  ninety-six  degrees.  It  was  a  natural  place  for  Israelitish 
murmuring,  especially  if  they  followed  the  plain  south  to 


1  Lengerke,  Robinson,  Ritter,  Kurtz,  Stanley,  Strauss,  Tischendorf  (apparent¬ 
ly),  Palmer,  and  others,  including  the  members  of  the  British  Ordnance  Survey 
Expedition.  Some  fix  on  Debbet  er  Ramleh,  on  the  northern  route ;  and  there 
are  yet  other  places  suggested,  Wady  Es  Sheikh  (Rosenmiiller  and  Kalisch),  or 
some  of  the  wadies  south  of  El  Murkha  (Ebers  and  others). 


214 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Wady  Feiran.  We  passed,  on  the  left,  but  did  not  visit,  the 
fountain  of  El  Murklia,  which  is  the  most  noted  watering- 
place  on  this  lower  route.  Indeed,  we  could  learn  of  no 
other  between  here  and  the  mouth  of  Wady  Feiran  along 
the  shore.  We  had  no  occasion  to  visit  it,  having  a  suf¬ 
ficient  supply  of  water.  W.  H.  Bartlett  was  less  fortunate, 
and,  after  considerable  suffering  from  thirst,  was  relieved 
by  a  supply  procured  from  this  fountain.  Burckhardt  vis¬ 
ited  it,  and  found  a  small  pond  (“see”)  in  the  sandstone 
rock  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  two  date-palms  grow¬ 
ing  near.  The  water  was  better  than  the  Ayiin  Musa,  but 
not  very  good.2 

It  was  in  the  Wilderness  of  Sin  that  the  manna  was  pro¬ 
vided,  and  the  first  supply  of  quails  furnished  the  Israelites 
(Exod.  xvi.).  Though  we  encountered  here  only  two  ravens 
and  a  lizard,  it  is  noticeable  that  W.  II.  Bartlett  saw  “  nu¬ 
merous  quails”  and  “  several  gazelles.”3 

Some  reasons  for  this  assumption  are,  first,  that  from 
the  encampment  by  the  sea  this  would  be  the  direct  route, 
and  no  reason  can  be  found  why  the  host  should  be 
brought  to  the  sea -side  and  then  made  to  retrace  their 


2  Burckhardt  ascribes  its  bad  taste  partly  to  the  moss,  dirt,  and  filth  with 
which  the  fountain  is  filled,  but  chiefly  to  the  salt  quality  of  the  surrounding 
soil.  It  is  next  in  importance  to  Ayun  Musa  and  Gharandel,  on  the  route  from 
Suez  to  Tor.  About  half  an  hour  before  reaching  this  fountain,  on  his  way 
from  Wady  Shellal,  he  came  to  a  supply  of  rain-water  in  some  natural  cisterns, 
which  he  mentions  as  the  only  sweet- water  between  Suez  and  Tor,  adding  that 
the  Arabs  frequently  turn  aside  from  the  direct  route  to  visit  it.  He  speaks  of 
“  many  fissures  in  the  rocks,”  filled  by  the  winter  rains.  It  is  about  three  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  probably  is  the  same  that  is  mentioned  by  other  travellers. 

3  Bartlett,  Forty  Days,  p.  40.  It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Schubert,  when 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Kibroth  Hattaavah,  encountered  an  immense  flock  of 
migratory  birds  flying  over  in  such  numbers  as  he  had  never  seen  before 
(Reise,  ii.  361).  Brugsch  breakfasted  on  partridge  at  Major  Macdonald’s,  in 
Wady  Maghara  (Wanderung,  p.  68).  Bonar  “frequently  met  with  quails  in 
small  flocks”  (Desert  of  Sinai,  p.  112). 


THE  ENCAMPMENT  BY  THE  SEA. 


215 


steps  up  Wady  Taiyibeh  to  Wady  Hamr.  There  is  abso¬ 
lutely  no  special  attraction  or  advantage  in  this  sea-side 
plain  as  a  place  of  encampment  for  them,  unless  it  lay  di¬ 
rectly  on  their  route.  Secondly,  as  we  afterward  found,  on 
personal  examination  of  all  the  conjectured  routes,  we  were 
satisfied  that  the  southern  was  far  the  easiest  and  most  feasi¬ 
ble  for  such  a  host.  Thirdly,  the  situation  and  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  El  Murklia  in  several  respects  admirably  corre¬ 
sponded  to  that  of  the  Desert  of  Sin — ( a )  its  implied  oppres¬ 
sive  character;  ( b )  its  proximity  to  the  encampment  by  the 
sea;  (<?)  the  absence  of  a  water-supply,  apparently,  till  on 
reaching  Repliidim.  The  objection  made  by  Ebers,  Mur¬ 
phy,  and  others,  that  the  Wilderness  of  Sin  was  between 
Eli m  and  Sinai,  seems  scarcely  to  carry  weight.  El  Murklia 
is  on  the  way,  and  properly  “  between.”  The  absence  of 
pasturage  for  the  flocks,  which  has  also  been  urged  as  an 
objection,  would  apply  with  about  equal  force  to  either 
route.  The  valleys  east  of  El  Murklia  are  perhaps  as  fa¬ 
vorable  for  pasturage  as  those  along  and  beyond  Wady 
Ilamr. 

We  were  two  hours  in  crossing  El  Murkha.  At  length 
the  approach  to  Wady  Shellal  (the  cataract  wady)  was  indi¬ 
cated  by  deep  courses  of  winter  torrents,  along  which  lay 
strewn  trunks  and  bushes  of  palm-trees.  I  counted  ten 
dead  trees  as  we  passed  along.  It  was  afterward  a  mystery 
to  me  where  they  all  came  from,  for  I  noticed  only  two  liv¬ 
ing  palm-trees  after  we  entered  the  valley,  but  numerous 
dead  ones  lying  along  the  ground.  Almost  immediately  on 
entering  the  valley  we  lost  sight  of  the  sea  ;  nor  did  we  see 
it  again  till  we  stood  on  Mount  Serhal.  The  valley  went 
twisting  about,  and  the  mountains  began  to  show  the  deep 
and  beautiful  coloring  for  which  this  whole  region  is  cele- 
brated.  In  one  place  there  was  a  light  brown,  or  fawn-color 


216 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


above,  then  shades  of  amber,  dark  brown,  reddish  brown, 
and  red.  Later  in  the  day  I  saw  purple,  dark  green,  and 
other  shades.  The  distant  mountains  had  a  deeper  hue. 
The  rough  crags  towered  high  on  each  side  as  we  wound 
along,  the  upper  portions  being  here  apparently  so  crum¬ 
bling  and  easily  disintegrated  as  scarcely  to  admit  of  per¬ 
manent  soil  and  vegetation.  Lower  down,  the  bright  green 
caper-plant  (hyssop,  perhaps)  hung  out  here  and  there  from 
the  crevices ;  and  along  the  path,  and  in  little  recesses  where 
there  seemed  scarcely  a  place  for  them,  we  found  many 
flowers.  Near  the  entrance  of  Wady  Shellal  we  began  to 
encounter  acacia-trees,  of  good  size  and  in  sufficient  num¬ 
bers  to  show  how  easily  these  valleys  might  be  filled  with 
them.  During  two  days  we  were  scarcely  at  any  time  out 
of  sight  of  them ;  but  most  of  them  were  largely  stripped  of 
their  boughs,  and  many  of  them  had  been  cut  down  by  the 
Bedouin.  From  what  I  observed  here  and  elsewhere,  it 
was  easy  to  understand  how,  in  a  few  years,  the  peninsula 
would  be  stripped  of  these  trees ;  and  it  was  not  difficult  to 
see  how,  under  a  different  regime,  these  same  valleys  might 
once  have  yielded  a  much  larger  amount  of  vegetation,  as 
well  as  a  more  uniform  and  abundant  supply  of  water. 
The  more  they  are  denuded,  the  more  hopeless  and  almost 
impossible  it  seems  that  they  should  ever  be,  or  have  been, 
otherwise.  The  moisture  comes  now  only  in  rain-storms, 
which,  by  reason  of  their  impetuosity,  and  the  want  of  soil 
or  vegetation  to  retard  and  absorb,  sweep  everything  before 
them. 

We  passed  out  of  Wady  Shellal,  and  rose  rapidly  till 

we  reached  a  narrow  way  formed  by  nearly  vertical  strata, 

where  the  softer  rock  between  had  decayed  and  left  a  wall 

€/ 

on  both  sides.  We  were  in  a  sandstone  region.  At  length 

O  O 

we  came  to  Nugb  Buderah  (the  “pass  of  the  sword”),  and  in 


THE  ENCAMPMENT  BY  THE  SEA. 


217 


five  minutes  climbed  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  through,  rough 
and  rugged  rocks,  made  passable  by  zigzag  cuttings  and 
side  supports  of  rubble -wall.  This  ascent  had  been  greatly 
improved  by  Major  Macdonald  during  his  mining  operations 
in  Wady  Maghara.  Its  previous  condition  may  be  judged 
from  the  account  of  W.  H.  Bartlett,  who  says  that  “the 
camels  found  it  so  difficult  that  the  rocks  resounded  with 
their  cries :  it  was  only  by  removing  their  loads  in  the  steeper 
parts  of  the  ascent  that  they  were  ultimately  enabled  to  ac¬ 
complish  it.”4  And  yet  he  speaks  of  it  as  being  then  “  part¬ 
ly  built  up  with  rough  stones.”  Laval’s  camels  had  to  be 
unloaded  here  in  1850.  A  heavily-laden  host  like  the  Isra¬ 
elites  would  naturally  have  avoided  such  a  tiresome  strug¬ 
gle,  provided  there  was  a  more  feasible  way. 

On  emerging  from  the  pass,  the  country  opened  before 
us  in  wild  roughness  and  titanic  grandeur  and  desolation, 
draped  in  weird  colors  corresponding  to  the  stern  aspect  of 
the  scenery  —  chalky,  gray,  green,  red,  brown,  and  almost 
black.  We  were  passing  along  the  transition -line  from 
sandstone  to  granite,  porphyry,  and  gneiss.  Our  path  again 
led  along  a  high  ridge  through  a  narrow  lane  between  al¬ 
most  vertical  rock -strata,  and  we  descended  into  Wady 
Nugb  Buderah.  The  thermometer  at  noon  had  stood  at 
ninety -eight  degrees,  but  the  afternoon  and  evening  were 

mild  and  comfortable.  Our  tents  were  pitched  in  a  fine, 

> 

sheltered,  circular  nook,  which  was  surrounded  by  high  and 
abrupt  mountain  ranges,  and  sprinkled  with  a  few  acacias. 


4  W.  II.  Bartlett  mentions  that  before  reaching  this  pass  he  “  had  the  good- 
fortune  to  obtain,  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  Cairo,  cold  fresh  water,  sup¬ 
plied  by  a  spring  high  up  in  the  mountain”  (p.  41).  Though  he  calls  it  Wady 
Buderah,  he  probably  means  Wady  Shellal.  Graul’s  Arabs  also  found  water  in 
Wady  Shellal,  at  Ain  Asmar  (p.  226). 


i 


218 


FROM  EG  YET  TO  RAREST INE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EGYPTIAN  MINES,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY. 

February  12 tit. — An  early  start  brought  us  in  thirty-five 
minutes  to  Wady  Igneh,  and  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
more  to  the  entrance  of  Wady  Maghara  (“the  valley  of 
caves,”  or  mines).  We  had  ridden  along  Wady  Igneli,  gath¬ 
ering  numerous  little  flowers,  and  turned  off  from  the  di¬ 


rect  road  almost  due  north  into  Wady  Maghara.  As  we 
entered,  a  singular  conical  hill  stood  right  in  front  of  us, 
splitting  in  two  the  opening  between  the  hills.  The  west¬ 
ern  valley  is  Maghara.  A.  climb  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet'  up  the  sharp,  rough  sandstone  declivity  on  our  left 
brought  us  to  a  series  of  remarkable  inscriptions,  one  of 


EGYPTIAN  MINES,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  219 


them  older  than  the  great  Pyramid  of  Geezeh,  and  one  of 
them  by  the  builder  of  that  pyramid,  yet  in  the  main  en¬ 
tirely  legible,  and  some  of  them  as  distinct  as  a  modern 
inscription,  wonderfully  clear  and  fresh.  Here  we  copied 
the  cartoucli  of  Cheops,  of  the  great  Pyramid;  and  read 
close  by  that  of  a  still  earlier  monarch,  Snefru,  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  the  oldest  inscription  in  the  world,  and  the  names 
of  many  of  their  successors.  Here  stands  Snefru  smiting  a 
kneeling  enemy  (the  “  Mentu,”  or  mountain  people,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Brugsch),  whom  he  holds  by  the  hair  of  the  head. 
Saoora  does  the  same.  Cheops  wears  the  badge  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt. 

We  followed  the  inscriptions  southward  along  the  pre¬ 
cipitous  rock,  gradually  rising  to  a  point  some  thirty  feet 
higher  than  the  first  inscription.  The  list  of  Pharaohs  who 
wrought  these  mines  and  recorded  their  names,  some  of 
them  between  four  and  five  thousand  years  ago,  begins  with 
the  third,  and  extends  to  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  Of  the 
third  dynasty,  we  find  Snefru  apparently  the  founder  of  the 
works;  of  the  fourth,  Chufu  (Cheops)  and  Chnum  Chufu; 
of  the  fifth,  Saoora,  Paenooser  (Userenra),  Menkauhor,  and 
Tatkara ;  of  the  sixth,  Pepi  and  Ncferkara ;  of  the  twelfth, 
Usertesen  II.  and  Amenemha  III. ;  and  of  the  eighteenth, 
Queen  Pam  aka  or  Machaftra  (Ilasheps),  co- ruler  with 
Thothmes  III.  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  their  joint  reign. 
There  is  a  hiatus  between  the  sixth  and  twelfth,  and  also 
between  the  twelfth  and  the  eighteenth,  and  a  cessation 
after  Pameses  II.  of  the  nineteenth.1  These  records  were 


1  I  give  the  list  from  Brugsch’s  careful  examination,  assisted  by  Major  Mac¬ 
donald  (Wanderung,  p.  85).  Ebers  (pp.  138,  538)  found  two  additional  inscrip¬ 
tions,  one  of  which,  according  to  him,  was  made  in  the  twentieth  year  of  Ra¬ 
ineses  II.  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty.  See  also  Birch’s  History,  p.  90,  who  also 
adds  (p.  67)  Amenemha  II. 


220 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


all  made,  according  to  the  more  common  opinion,  before 
the  Israelites  passed  through  the  wilderness ;  and,  so  far  as 
the  absence  of  inscriptions  may  be  considered  as  evidence, 
the  mining  operations  in  this  place  were  never  resumed  by 
the  Egyptians. 

The  end  of  the  inscriptions  brought  us  to  the  entrance  of 
the  old  mines.  We  entered  one  of  them,  a  wide,  high  arch 
cut  about  seventy  feet  into  the  sandstone  of  the  side  hill, 
with  smaller  passages  penetrating  much  farther,  though  now 
filled  with  debris.  The  long  marks  of  ancient  cutting-tools 
were  still  to  be  seen  overhead  and  around.  I  saw  two  small 
stone  troughs,  about  eighteen  inches  by  ten,  and  in  the  nar¬ 
row  rock  platform  in  front  numerous  small,  round  holes, 
which  the  Arabs  said  were  for  water,  but  which  others  have 
supposed  to  be  moulds.  I  counted  fifteen  of  them  in  the 
surface  of  one  rock  a  few  feet  square.  It  seems  to  be  as 
yet  an  unproved  opinion  that  copper  was  found  and  exca¬ 
vated  in  this  place.  It  was,  however,  clearly  wrought  as  a 
turquoise  mine,  the  same  purpose  for  which  Major  Mac¬ 
donald  reopened  it  in  1845.  The  “mafkat”  of  the  inscrip¬ 
tions  which  Lepsius  at  first  supposed  to  be  copper,  Brugsch 
and  Birch  pronounce  to  be  turquoise.  This  stone  is  still 
found  here,  although,  as  Major  Macdonald  learned  to  his 
cost,  not  in  such  quantity  and  quality  now  as  to  repay  the 
expense  of  mining  operations.  The  Arabs,  I  believe,  still 
hunt  for  it  in  a  small  way.  It  was  from  this  place  very 
likely,  or  from  Sarabit  el  Khadim,  a  few  miles  north,  that 
the  turquoise  I  had  seen  in  Queen  Aah-hotep’s  jewelry 
came.  It  occurs  here  in  grains  ranging  from  the  minutest 
size  up  to  that  of  three  or  four  tenths  of  an  inch,  sprinkled 
(according  to  Fraas)  in  a  brown  oxide  of  iron,  which  is  em¬ 
bedded  in  the  sandstone. 

We  descended  from  the  mines,  and  crossed  the  valley  to 


EGYPTIAN  MINES \  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  221 


ascend  to  the  conical  hill  already  mentioned.  On  begin¬ 
ning  the  ascent,  we  first  reached  a  terrace,  where  outlines 
of  the  houses  of  the  former  workmen,  some  ten  feet  square, 
lay  thickly  crowded  together.  Here  were  abundant  frag¬ 
ments  of  old  pottery;  and  the  Arabs  officiously  picked  up 
specimens  of  poor  turquoise  and  small  pieces  of  iron-ore 
and,  apparently,  also  copper.  We  continued  the  sharp  as¬ 
cent,  and  struck  a  path  winding  a  little  round  the  hill,  with¬ 
in  sixty  or  seventy  feet  of  the  top,  where  there  were  ruins 
of  other  habitations.  The  remaining  part  of  the  elevation 
seemed  like  a  small  hill  placed  upon  a  terrace.  Our  ba¬ 
rometer  gave  the  entire  height  of  the  whole  elevation  at 
two  hundred  and  eighty  feet.2  In  the  centre  of  the  area 
at  the  top  was  the  outline  of  a  small  circular  building, 
which  could  hardly  have  been  anything  but  a  watch-tower, 
having  a  magnificent  range  of  vision  down  four  different 
valleys — north,  north-east,  south-east,  and  south-west.  On 
the  north-west  side  we  could  trace  the  line  of  an  embank¬ 
ment  which  once  led  across  to  the  mines  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  valley,  as  some  conjecture,  for  a  convenient  path¬ 
way ;  others,  for  a  defence.  Similar  traces  are  found  of  a 
connection  .between  this  hill  and  another  lying  a  little  east 
of  south.  Brugsch  suggests  that  they  may  possibly  have 
answered  the  purpose  of  a  dam  to  retain  the  water  that  fell 
in  these  valleys.  It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  that 
there  is  a  spring  about  a  mile  away  (our  Arabs  said  an  hour 
and  a  half) ;  and  various  ruins  of  large  cisterns  are  said  to 
have  been  found,  some  of  them  on  the  hill  itself.3  Mr. 
Palmer  also  saw  and  described  a  carving  which  represented 

2  Murray’s  Guide  (edition  1868)  gives  it  at  a  thousand  feet — a  singular  ex¬ 
aggeration. 

3  Murray  also  mentions  the  remains  of  a  very  large  reservoir  up  the  valley, 
occupying  its  whole  bed.  We  did  not  look  for  it. 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


999 


“a  group  of  miners  at  work,  superintended  by  a  soldier 
armed  with  a  bow  and  arrow,  and  the  workmen  provided 
with  a  chisel  of  the  ordinary  pattern,  and  a  kind  of  swivel 


CHUFU - CHEOPS. 

Tablets  in  Wady  Maghara. 


hammer,  which  would  seem  to  have  been  used  by  placing 
the  heavy  part  upon  the  ground,  and  working  it  from  the 
handle.”  On  our  inquiring  for  this  representation,  we  were 
assured  it  had  been  destroyed  in  mining;  an  assurance  which 


EGYPTIAN  MINES ,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  223 


may  have  been  a  pleasant  Arab  fiction  to  save  the  trouble 
of  climbing  a  difficult  place,  or  it  may  have  been  true,  since 
I  beard  two  reports  of  blasting  while  here,  and  bad  seen 
lying  among  the  debris  near  the  mines  a  large  stone  with 
ancient  inscriptions. 

From  the  top  of  this  bill  was  a  splendid  view  of  wild 
and  savage  mountain  scenery.  In  a  valley  north-east,  how¬ 
ever,  I  counted,  with  my  glass,  nearly  three  hundred  acacia- 
trees,  showing  what  could  be  done  in  these  valleys  if  care 
were  taken  of  them.  From  the  hill-top  we  descended  to 
the  eastern  foot,  where  stands  the  forsaken  stone  house  of 
Major  Macdonald,  with  its  out -buildings  and  watercourses 
for  the  winter  torrents,  and  a  comfortable  path  lip  the  hill¬ 
side.  Here  for  many  years  this  singular  man,  a  native  of 
Scotland  and  a  British  cavalry  officer,  lived,  surrounded  by 
a  troop  of  Arab  retainers  and  workmen,  dispensing  gener¬ 
ous  hospitality  to  visitors — a  hospitality  enthusiastically  de¬ 
scribed  by  Brugsch — until  at  last  he  returned  to  Egypt,  and 
died  a  disappointed  and  ruined  man.  Ilis  turquoises  proved 
to  be  of  little  commercial  value  as  compared  with  the  Per¬ 
sian  stones.  Indeed  he  informed  Brugsch  (who  saw  in  his 
collection  pieces  as  large  as  a  pigeon’s  egg)  that  the  tur¬ 
quoises  which  he  had  succeeded  in  finding  unfortunately 
did  not  hold  their  color,  but  soon  changed  from  “  the  finest 
sky-blue  to  a  dull  milk-blue.” 

Mr.  Holland  and  Mr.  Palmer  both  speak  of  finding  traces 
of  the  smelting  of  copper  in  Wady  Maghara.  A  small 
fragment,  apparently  containing  copper,  was  handed  us  by 
an  Arab  here.  But  it  may  be  questioned  whether  appear¬ 
ances  justify  the  belief  that  it  was  a  principal  work  in  this 
spot.  Mr.  Holland  also  mentions  having  found  traces  of 
the  smelting  of  copper  in  wadies  Shellal,  Nash,  Maghara, 
Senned,  and  on  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba,  about  thirty 


224 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


miles  north  of  Sherni,  and  also  in  Wady  Gharandel.4  Mr. 
Palmer  also  mentions  very  definitely  and  circumstantially 
his  examination,  in  company  with  Captain  Wilson,  of  the 
copper  mines  near  Jebel  Habashi,  in  Wady  Regait  a,  where 
he  speaks  of  the  considerable  quantity  of  the  ore  in  minute 
particles  in  the  rock,  as  well  as  thin  layers  of  sulphate  of 
copper  in  a  large  dike,  the  neighboring  hills  being  covered 
with  pathways,  and  showing  “numerous  remains  of  smelt¬ 
ing  furnaces.7 * 6'5  It  may  be  added,  in  this  connection,  that 
the  iron  which  appears  here  in  minute  quantities  occurs 
elsewhere  in  the  peninsula.  Dr.  G.  Werner  found  in  the 
syenite  at  Mount  Sinai  small  grains  which  he  recognized 
as  “  magnetic  iron.776  A  specimen  of  igneous  rock  from 
Ain  Iludherah  was  found  to  contain  “  much  iron.777  And 
Jebel  Hadid,  visited  by  Mr.  Palmer  and  Mr.  Holland,  ten 
miles  south-east  of  Jebel  Musa,  “is  so  called  from  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  iron  ore  which  is  found  there  in  large  dikes,  often 
appearing  above  the  surface  of  the  ground.778 

In  Wady  Nash,  a  little  to  the  north-west  of  Sarabit  el 
Khadim,  Piippell  found  not  only  old  Egyptian  mines,  great 
heaps  of  slag,  and  the  ruins  of  many  smelting  furnaces, 
but  also  wedge-shaped  openings  in  the  sandstone,  revealing 
great  masses  of  black  oxide  of  copper.  In  many  places 
the  metal-bearing  mass  appeared  to  be  two  hundred  feet 
thick,  and  his  analysis  disclosed  eighteen  per  cent,  of  cop¬ 
per  and  an  equal  amount  of  iron,  with  traces  of  arsenic. 
The  ore  is  easily  reduced,  simply  by  heat.9  Of  several 


4  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  424 ;  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  197. 

6  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  256. 

6  Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  p.  18,  note. 

7  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  557. 

fe  lb.  p.  136.  See  also  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  424. 

9  Rtippell,  Reisen,  pp.  265,  266. 


EGYPTIAN  MINES ,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  225 


specimens  brought  home  by  myself,  one  piece  of  furnace- 
slag  from  Wady  Maghara  proved  to  contain,  according  to 
the  report  of  a  chemist,  “  a  small  amount  of  copper,  con¬ 
siderable  iron,  some  cobalt,  and  some  manganese another 
piece  of  slag  or  ore  from  Sarabit  el  Khadim  contained 
“  copper  in  large  quantity,  considerable  iron,  some  calcium, 
magnesium,  and  silica.”  A  more  exact  analysis,  by  Profes¬ 
sor  Plan  pied,  of  Dartmouth  College,  of  a  piece  of  slag 
from  Wady  Maghara,  showed  but  eight-tenths  per  cent,  of 
copper  and  twenty-three  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  iron ; 
and  a  piece  of  ore  from  Sarabit  el  Khadim  exhibited  thir¬ 
ty-one  and  eight-tenths  per  cent,  of  copper  and  twelve  per 
cent,  of  iron,  besides  other  substances.  The  last-mentioned 
contained  small  nodules  of  copper,  which  increased  the  per¬ 
centage. 

In  leaving  Wady  Maghara,  one  could  not  but  admit  that 
Mr.  Macdonald  found  a  home  in  a  very  wild  and  romantic 
place,  but  alas  for  neighbors !  In  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  this  valley  we  found  numerous  kinds  of  flowers,  some 
of  them  quite  fragrant.  We  gathered  the  seed  of  some  of 
these,  and  of  others  later,  hoping  to  reproduce  them  at 
home.  But  none  of  them,  however  well  cared  for,  could 
be  persuaded  to  grow.  The  sheikh  brought  me,  as  choice 
morsels,  two  or  three  clusters  of  large  sorrel,  which  tasted 
very  refreshing.  Almost  at  no  time  were  we  out  of  sight 
of  acacias.  Usually  a  large  part  of  their  branches  had 
been  cut  off,  even  when  the  tree  itself  had  been  spared. 
There  would  seem  to  be  no  good  reason  why  these  valleys, 
except  in  the  most  direct  line  of  the  violent  winter  tor¬ 
rents,  might  not  be  lined  and  filled  with  acacias,  and  then 
with  a  fair  amount  of  vegetation.  One  is  surprised  to  see 
how  many  kinds  of  shrubs  can  grow  and  what  varieties  of 
flowers  manage  to  peep  forth  under  the  most  adverse  cir- 

15 


226 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


cum  stances.  And  we  were  repeatedly  struck  by  the  fact 
that  a  large  number  of  these  desert  herbs  seem  to  make 
amends  for  their  otherwise  hard  lot  by  being  exceedingly 
fragrant.  Some  of  them  were  peculiarly  toothsome  to  the 
camels,  and  it  was  a  favorite  occupation  with  one  or  two 
of  our  Arabs — particularly  with  Hassan,  the  brightest  and 
most  friendly  of  our  Arab  attendants — to  search  out  these 
savory  morsels  for  his  own  camel. 

As  we  proceeded  on  our  way  in  the  deep  valleys,  the 
thermometer  marked  one  hundred  and  two  degrees.  About 
the  same  time  we  had  a  refreshing  sight  of  Mount  Serbal, 
capped  and  streaked  with  snow.  We  soon  entered  Wady 
Mukatteb,  the  “  written  ”  valley,  so  called  on  account  of 
the  numerous  inscriptions  in  it,  which  are  commonly  known 
as  “  Sinaitic.”  It  is,  however,  now  well  known,  and  every 
observing  traveller  has  occasion  to  see  that  these  inscrip¬ 
tions  are  confined  to  no  one  locality,  but  are  found  in  vari¬ 
ous  parts  of  the  peninsula.  They  occur  in  wadies  Hamr, 
Solaf,  Hebran,  Sheikh,  Sidder,  at  Nugb  el  Ilawa,  in  Wady 
Leja,  close  by  Jebel  Musa,  in  wadies  Aleyat  and  Nakheleh. 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Serbal,  and  near  the  top  of  Serbal,  in 
wadies  Khabar  and  Er  Rimm,  near  Feiran,  at  Ain  Hudhe- 
rah,  and  other  places.  They  are  more  conspicuous  and 
more  abundant  in  this  valley  than  in  most  places.  It  was 
a  great  thoroughfare.  Ebers  counted  more  than  a  hun¬ 
dred  inscriptions,  most  of  them  in  groups,  occurring  quite 
frequently  in  the  distance  of  three  hours,  and  afterward  at 
wider  intervals.  They  are  found  mostly  on  the  west  side 
of  the  valleys.  Almost  at  once,  on  entering  this  broad  val¬ 
ley,  our  attention  was  attracted  to  the  inscriptions  which 
ran  for  some  distance  along  the  rocks  on  the  side.  Our 
lunching-place  abounded  in  them  ;  indeed,  it  was  rather 
remarkable  for  them.  They  were  inscribed  sometimes  on 


cold  chicken  and  other  palatable  refreshments,  to  see  the 
records  of  ancient  loiterers  who  had  availed  themselves  of 
the  same  convenient  spot,  and  having  satisfied  their  appe¬ 
tites  with  much  less  tempting  fare,  had  expended  their 
superfluous  energy  upon  the  rocks.  A  fallen  rock  just  in 
front  of  our  stone  lunch-table  was  covered  with  these  mark¬ 
ings.  The  inscriptions  are  little  more  than  heavy  scratches, 
dotted,  very  likely,  with  a  sharp  stone.  There  are  words 
written  in  letters  from  five  to  eight  inches  long,  and  rude 
figures  of  animals  of  varying  dimensions.  In  this  spot  I 
saw  five  horses  in  one  place,  and  one  in  another.  There 
were  figures  of  camels,  with  great  triangular  humps  and 
awkward  necks,  and  in  one  instance  with  a  rider  and  a  driv- 


WADY  MUKATTEB. 


EGYPTIAN  MINES,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  227 


the  rock  walls  of  the  wady,  but  here  mostly  on  detached 
masses  of  rock  which  had  fallen  from  their  original  posi¬ 
tion.  We  had  but  to  lift  our  eyes,  as  we  partook  of  our 


228 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


er,  and  still  another  man  preceding  and  following.  They 
were  almost  as  rude  sketches  as  any  small  boy  first  draws 
upon  his  slate.  Gazelles  sometimes  occur,  with  ridiculous 
magnitude  of  horns.  The  inscriptions  were  near  the  ground, 
few,  if  any  of  them,  being  higher  than  a  man  could  reach 
standing  on  the  back  of  a  camel ;  they  are  found  mostly 
in  convenient  halting-places,  and  the  stone  is  never  artifi¬ 
cially  prepared  for  the  inscriptions.  The  horses  must  have 
been  drawn  by  persons  not  resident  in  the  peninsula. 

The  mystery  that  once  hung  over  these  inscriptions  is 
now  partly  dissipated.  The  favorite  figures  are  camels, 
horses  sometimes  with  riders  or  guides,  gazelles,  armed 
and  unarmed  men,  stars,  and  crosses.  Ships  are  said  to  oc¬ 
cur,10  although  they  did  not  fall  under  my  notice.  Stanley 
speaks  of  ostriches.  Ebers  mentions  the  figure  of  a  man 
clothed  like  a  priest,  with  uplifted  hands ;  a  fish  carved 
horizontally,  and  another  obliquely,  in  Wady  Feiran;  and 
an  animal  that  would  pass  equally  well  for  a  lion  or  a  wea¬ 
sel.  These  are  accompanied  by  inscriptions  in  letters  dif¬ 
fering  from  those  of  any  known  language.  They  are  done, 
it  is  conceded,  by  different  hands,  and  extend  through  some 
considerable  range  of  time.  The  earliest  mention  of  them 
goes  back  to  the  sixth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  when 
the  monk  Cosmas  took  them  to  be  records  left  by  the  Israel¬ 
ites  on  the  way  to  Sinai — a  theory  which  has  been  earnest¬ 
ly  but  unwisely  advocated  in  quite  recent  times. 

The  first  steps  in  the  line  of  discovery  were  taken  by 
Professor  Beer,  of  Leipzig,  who  determined  the  alphabet 
and  the  force  of  its  several  letters.  The  writing  was  found 
to  read  (contrary  to  Burckhardt’s  conjecture)  from  left  to 
right;  and  the  letters,  while  some  of  them  resemble  Pliceni- 


10  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen,  p.  168. 


EGYPTIAN  MINES ,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  229 


cian  characters,  were  supposed  by  him  to  be  on  the  whole 
an  independent  alphabet.  Other  investigators,  especially 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS,  WADY  MUKATTEB. 


Tuch  and  Levy,  have  followed  up  these  researches,  the  lat¬ 
ter  being  aided  by  the  inscriptions  on  certain  coins  found 
in  Petra.  It  was  found  that  the  character  in  these  Sinaitic 


230 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


inscriptions  differs  bnt  little  from  that  of  the  so-called  Nab- 
athsean  alphabet  nsed  in  the  inscriptions  of  Idumaea.  The 
language  was  ascertained  to  be  an  Aramaean  dialect — a 
form  of  Semitic  speech  which  in  the  earlier  centuries  of 
the  Christian  era  occupied  a  place  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  the  Arabic  in  later  times,  and  which  was  evidently 
familiar  in  the  peninsula  and  the  adjacent  regions.  Beer 
called  it  Nabathsean;  Tucli  termed  it  Arabic,  mixed  with 
Aramaean ;  and  Levy,  Aramaean,  largely  influenced  by  the 
neighboring  Arabs.  They  thus  agree  in  regard  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  character  of  the  language,  differing  only  in  the  name 
they  give  it.  Palmer  copied  twelve  bilingual  inscriptions, 
“  written,  both  in  Greek  and  Sinaitic,  by  one  and  the  same 
hand.” 

As  to  the  date  of  the  inscriptions  and  the  character  of 
the  authors,  there  is  some  diversity  of  view.  Beers  sup¬ 
posed  them  to  be  not  earlier  than  the  fourth  century. 
Tucli  ascribed  them  to  heathen,  in  the  centuries  preceding 
the  spread  of  Christianity  to  the  peninsula.  Levy  sup¬ 
posed  the  writers  to  be  heathen,  and  the  writings  to  have 
been  made  in  the  century  before  the  Christian  era  and  the 
centuries  immediately  subsequent,  the  latest  of  them  com¬ 
ing  down  not  later  than  the  fourth  century.  Dean  Stanley, 
from  the  numerous  crosses  which  occur  among  them,  con¬ 
cluded  that  they  were  for  the  most  part  Christian  pilgrims. 
Mr.  Palmer’s  result,  however,  will  be  more  generally  ac¬ 
cepted  than  either  extreme  view :  “  That  many  of  the  writ¬ 
ers  were  Christians  is  proved  by  the  number  of  Christian 
signs  which  they  used ;  but  it  is  equally  clear,  from  inter¬ 
nal  evidence,  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  were  pagans.” 
This  is  apparently  the  conclusion  of  Tischendorf.  lie  re¬ 
marks  forcibly:  “To  the  Christian  element  must  certainly 
be  ascribed  those  crosses  that  actually  have  the  Christian 


EGYPTIAN  MINES,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  231 

form,  as  well  as  the  monogrammatic  cross.”  Tischendorf 
inclines  to  carry  back  the  beginning  of  them  a  little  ear¬ 
lier  than  does  Levy,  viz.,  to  about  the  third  centnry  before 
Christ.  He  adds  that,  though  the  time  of  beginning  may 
be  a  question,  “  the  terminal  point  betrays  itself  on  the  rock 
in  a  peculiar  mode :  Christian  names  in  Greek  script  begin 
to  mingle  with  the  Habathsean,  and  these  latter  are  some¬ 
times  written  in  Greek,  and  even  at  times  in  both  lan¬ 
guages  together.  About  the  end  of  the  second  century  of 
the  Christian  era — in  fact,  when  the  power  of  the  Naba- 
thseans  was  broken  by  the  Homans,  or  certainly  at  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  next  century — the  Christian  name  began 
to  be  heard  around  Sinai ;  persecuted  Christians  lied  hither 
from  Egypt  to  the  wilderness  asylum,  where  a  hundred 
years  later  the  Christian  hermits  already  possessed  one  of 
their  most  flourishing  residences ;  and  indeed  a  Christian 
town  was  in  existence.”11  He  agrees  with  Tueh,  that  most 
of  these  names  are  memorials  of  pilgrims  going  up  to  hea¬ 
then  festivals  in  the  peninsula.  Palmer  varies  the  theory 
with  the  supposition  that  they  are  connected  with  expedi¬ 
tions  of  traders  and  carriers  who  held  public  marts  in  the 
peninsula.  Ebers  adds  the  supposition  that  the  Wady  Mu- 
katteb  itself  was  a  festival  place  for  the  inhabitants  of  the 
peninsula.  As  usual,  it  is  easier  to  say  what  was  not  the 
exact  origin  of  these  inscriptions  than  what  it  was.  The 
contents  are  very  simple,  and  of  little  intrinsic  impor¬ 
tance.  They  are  mostly  names  coupled  with  some  memorial 
word  or  phrase :  “  May  he  be  remembered ;”  “  Remain  in 
good  remembrance  ;”  “  Peace  be  with  him  ;”  “  Remain  in 
blessing;”  such  and  such  a  one.  A  singular  contact  of  the 
Christian  and  pagan  elements  on  the  same  rock  is  men- 


11  Aus  dcm  Heiligen  Lande,  p.  4. 


232 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


tioned  by  Tisehendorf  as  occurring  in  one  place  in  Wady 
Mukatteb :  “  There  stand  several  Christian  names,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  one  ‘  Deacon  Job.'  But  near  by,  and  in  manifest 
reference  to  these  Christian  names,  stand  the  words.  ‘  A  bad 
company  that ;  I,  the  soldier,  wrote  it  with  my  hand.’  ”12 

It  is  a  singular  Experience  to  read  in  these  profound  sol¬ 
itudes  such  written  memorials  of  a  once  considerable  peo¬ 
ple,  who  had  their  enterprise  as  travellers,  their  festivals, 
their  merry-makings,  and  their  written  language,  but  of 
whom  every  other  token  has  completely  perished. 

From  Wady  Mukatteb,  about  'an  hour  and  forty  min¬ 
utes  from  the  entrance,  we  rose  over  a  rough  rocky  eleva¬ 
tion,  and  descended  into  a  considerable  depression.  Here 
we  found  our  Arabs  had  sent  some  distance  to  the  left,  in 
a  lateral  wady  which  they  called  Macheira,  for  a  supply  of 
water.  I  had  informed  the  dragoman  that  we  should  not 
proceed  directly  to  the  oasis  in  Feiran,  but  should  delay  a 
day  or  two  on  the  way,  and  suggested  that  he  should  see  to 
it  that  we  had  a  good  supply  of  water.  The  result  was 
that  they  procured  it  here.  As  no  traveller,  so  far  as  I 
was  aware,  had  mentioned  any  well  or  fountain  in  this  re¬ 
gion,  I  took  occasion  two  days  later,  on  returning  to  the 
vicinity,  to  explore  the  place.  Two  of  our  number  made 
an  excursion  hither  from  Wady  Feiran.  They  found  the 
place  to  be  about  fifty  minutes’  distant  from  the  entrance 
to  Wady  Feiran.  Here  were  a  number  of  apparently  nat¬ 
ural  cavities  in  the  rock  in  the  ascent  of  a  gorge.  They 
counted  twenty-three  of  them,  varying  in  size  from  that  of 
a  barrel  up  to  several  hogsheads.  Four  or  five  of  these 
basins  were  cleared  of  sand  and  stones.'  In  the  uppermost 
basin  the  water  had  recently  been  standing  six  feet  deep, 


12  Aus  dem  Heiligen  Lande,  p.  4. 


EGYPTIAN  MINES ,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  233 


although  not  much  was  now  remaining.  It  was  rain-water. 
We  found  it  good,  as  well  as  cool.  An  Arab  dug  about  a 
foot  and  a  half  in  the  sand,  and  the  water  came  oozing  in. 
The  cavities  were  situated  so  that  a  copious  rain  would  fill 
them  all,  and  when  filled  they  would  contain  a  large  amount 
of  water.  We  afterward  found  water  in  a  similar  nat¬ 
ural  basin  far  down  Wady  ITebran,  where  it  was  point¬ 
ed  out  to  us  by  strange  Arabs.  Burckhardt,  it  will  be  re¬ 
membered,  mentions  certain  “  natural  reservoirs  of  rain¬ 
water  ”  known  to  his  Arabs  and  visited  by  them,  half  an 
hour  south-east  by  south  from  the  fountain  of  El  Murkha, 
in  Wady  Dhafary.  Stephens,13  when  in  distress  for  water, 
found  it  also  in  a  similar  reservoir  somewhere  between 
wadies  Shellal  and  Feiran.  These  facts,  and  the  indica¬ 
tions  of  a  dam  and  reservoir  in  the  northern  end  of  Wady 
Maghara  (previously  mentioned),  naturally  suggest  one  pos¬ 
sible  source  of  ancient  water-supply  through  these  regions 
that  has  not  yet  been  sufficiently  investigated,  namely,  the 
collection  and  preservation  of  rain-water  in  artificial  as  well 
as  natural  reservoirs.  W ellsted  mentions  that  in  going 
(January  9th)  from  Sherm  to  Sinai,  not  quite  midway  in 
the  journey,  at  the  entrance  of  a  narrow  valley  leading  out 
of  Wady  Seder,  “our  Arabs  filled  the  water-sacks  from  a 
great  natural  reservoir  in  the  rock.  There  were  pointed 
out  to  us  other  reservoirs  in  the  neighborhood,  all  of  which 
were  completely  filled  by  the  last  rain.”  He  adds :  “  It  has 
caused  not  a  little  wonder  that  the  vast  multitude  of  the 
Israelites  (six  hundred  thousand  men,  besides  women,  chil¬ 
dren,  and  servants),  during  their  journey  in  the  wilderness, 
should  have  found  an  adequate  supply  of  water.  But  there 
are  many  such  reservoirs.  Moreover,  in  the  rainy  seasons 


13  Stephens’s  Travels  in  Egypt,  etc.  i.  200. 


234 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  valleys  are  often  stream-beds,  and  very  commonly  we 
find  water  in  them  at  other  seasons  of  the  year,  when  we 
dig  a  few  feet  in  the  ground.  I  see,  therefore,  no  reason 
why  there  should  have  been  a  lack  of  water.  But  the  real 
difficulty  is,  that  food  should  not  have  failed  them,  since 
the  product  of  a  whole  year  in  the  peninsula  would,  per¬ 
haps,  not  be  adequate  to  supply  such  a  number  of  persons 
for  a  single  day ;  and  I  am  in  no  condition  to  view  this  as 
other  than  a  miracle.”14  Dr.  Benisch  has  argued  this  mat¬ 
ter  forcibly  and  at  length.15  lie  shows  that  attention  was 
evidently  directed  to  this  supply.  He  refers  to  the  request 
of  Moses  (Numb.  x.  29-32),  that  Ilobab  would  accompany 
the  host,  “  Forasmuch  as  thou  knowest  how  we  are  to  en¬ 
camp  in  the  wilderness,  and  thou  mayest  be  to  us  instead 
of  eyes”  and  the  immediate  statement  that  “  the  ark  went 
before  them  in  the  three  days’  journey  to  search  out  a 
resting-place  for  them;”  to  the  unequal  times  of  halting; 
to  the  proposal  made  to  Sihon  (Deut.  ii.)  for  “meat”  and 
“water;”  and  the  failure  of  the  Moabites  (xxiii.  4)  to  meet 
them  “  with  bread  and  with  water  in  the  way.”  He  calls 
attention  to  the  transaction  involved  in  Numbers  xxi., 
where  a  well  had  been  “  digged.”  He  finds  the  wilder¬ 
ness  mentioned  (Jer.  ii.  6)  as  a  land  of  “  pits,”  for  which  he 
finds  no  adequate  explanation  except  in  reservoirs  to  collect 
water — pits  similar  to  that  in  Palestine,  of  which  mention 
is  made  in  Genesis  xxxvii.  22-24,  and  of  which  it  is  said, 
“  Into  this  pit  that  is  in  the  wilderness,”  and  that  “  the  pit 
was  empty,  there  was  no  water  in  it  ” — showing  what  it  was 
for.  He  connects  with  this  the  idea  of  partial  concealment 
as  by  covering,  possibly  implied  in  Hagar’s  eyes  being 

14  Reise  in  Arabien,  ii.  60,  61. 

15  Bishop  Colenso’s  Objections  to  the  Pentateuch  Examined,  by  Dr.  A.  Be* 
nisch,  pp.  41-57. 


EGYPTIAN  MINES ,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  235 


opened  (Gen.  xxi.  19),  “  and  she  saw  a  well  of  water.”  A 
fact  stated  by  Kalisch16  furnishes  a  still  more  definite  quasi- 
historical  basis.  In  speaking  of  the  inhabitants  of  Petra 
who  were  of  the  Nabathsean  race — kindred,  therefore,  with 
the  men  who  left  the  Sinaitic  inscriptions — that  commenta¬ 
tor  relates  that  “  in  the  most  sterile  part  of  the  dreary  des¬ 
ert  they  dug  vast  subterranean  water-reservoirs  with  long 
narrow  mouths,  which  could  be  easily  stopped  and  con¬ 
cealed,  while  the  interior  gradually  widened  to  the  dimen¬ 
sions  of  a  hundred  feet  square.  Into  these  regions  they 
marched  at  the  approach  of  their  enemies,  who,  excruciated 
by  thirst,  either  suffered  immense  losses  or  hastened  to 
return.”  To  these  facts  may  appropriately  be  added  the 
numerous  reservoirs  which  we  afterward  saw  in  going 
through  the  Negeb,  or  South  Country,  where  dams  had  been 
thrown  across  the  wadies,  and  the  water  even  conveyed  in 
stone  aqueducts  for  purposes  of  irrigation ;  and  also  the 
somewhat  numerous  fountains  and  pools  which,  as  it  will 
appear  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  not  only  form  a  series  of 
watering-places  at  intervals  around  the  whole  edge  of  the 
desert,  but  occur  occasionally  in  the  wady-beds  in  the  inte¬ 
rior.  In  estimating,  therefore,  the  water-supply  for  the  Is¬ 
raelites  in  the  Wilderness  of  Sinai,  while,  as  I  may  show  in 
passing,  the  present  resources  have  been  underestimated, 
and  the  probabilities  or  possibilities  of  the  past  overlooked, 
there  is  an  additional  field  of  inquiry  still  almost  un¬ 
touched,  but  suggested  by  the  circumstances  I  have  men¬ 
tioned,  as  to  what  natural  and  artificial  reservoirs  may  have 
been  found  and  constructed  under  a  great  leader,  by  a 
people  who  had  in  Egypt  been  perfectly  familiarized  with 
the  process  of  the  artificial  collection  and  preservation  of 


16  Commentary  on  Genesis  xxv.  12-18. 


236 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


water  in  reservoirs  with  embankments.  It  is  an  explana¬ 
tion  and  inquiry  which,  if  requisite,  cannot  be  objected  to, 
and  which  would  meet  any  supposed  exigencies  of  the  case. 

That  the  idea  of  cisterns  was  no  strange  tiling  in  Egypt 
appears  from  an  Egyptian  record  that  Iiameses  II.  took 
care  to  supply  the  road  to  his  gold-mines  with  water  by 
means  of  a  cistern,  and  another  statement  that  Seti  (his 
father)  constructed  a  cistern  one  hundred  and  twenty  el¬ 
bow-lengths  deep — which  latter,  however,  failed  to  be  filled 
with  water,  as  others  constructed  in  the  same  place  by  his 
predecessor  had  failed.  Ebers,  from  whom  I  cite  these 
statements,  suggests  the  probable  water-supply  of  Wady 
Magliara  as  a  reason  for  making  it  one  of  the  halting- 
places,  and  he  supposes  it  to  be  Doplika.  At  all  events, 
the  several  facts  we  have  cited  sufficiently  indicate  the  re¬ 
sources  at  the  command  of  the  Hebrews,  and  the  almost 
certainty  that  they  would  fully  have  availed  themselves  of 
these  on  their  marches,  and  especially  in  their  more  pro¬ 
tracted  stay  in  the  wilderness. 

From  the  point  where  these  natural  reservoirs  were  found 
(Wady  Macheira),  it  was  but  forty  or  fifty  minutes  to  Wady 
Feiran.  We  very  soon  reached  a  spot  where  a  side  track 
led  up  a  declivity  to  the  left ;  but  the  direct  path  entered  a 
narrow  rock  ravine  with  perpendicular  sides,  where  I  had 
an  adventure  that  might  have  been  unpleasant.  I  rode  in 
advance,  and  entered  the  fissure,  which  kept  growing  nar¬ 
rower,  till  at  length  the  valises  that  were  slung  on  each  side 
of  my  camel  began  to  strike  the  sides  of  the  cliff.  The 
camel  showed  signs  of  stopping;  but  as  I  saw  a  distinct 
path  in  advance,  I  urged  him  on.  At  length  he  halted,  and 
I  applied  the  riding-stick.  He  advanced  a  step  or  two,  with 
the  hateful  growl  of  his  species ;  and  just  as  I  began  to  feel 
the  baggage  rubbing  closer  against  the  rocks,  and  to  medi- 


EGYPTIAN  MINES,  AND  THE  WRITTEN  VALLEY.  237 


tate  a  retreat,  meanwhile  giving  him  another  punch  with 
my  pilgrim-staff,  by  some  mysterious  convolution  which  I 
cannot  understand  to  this  day,  the  long,  ungainly  creature, 
with  one  more  prodigious  growl,  had  in  a  twinkling  twisted 
himself  to  the  right-about-face,  giving  me  a  solid  knock  of 
the  leg  and  shoulder  against  the  rocks,  and,  with  his  head 
where  his  tail  had  been  an  instant  before,  was  on  his  way 
at  full  trot  out  of  the  fissure.  I  was  reminded  of  Num¬ 
bers  xxii.  25,  but  trusted  that  the  resemblance  failed  in  sev¬ 
eral  particulars.  I  was  thankful  to  have  escaped  without 
a  more  violent  collision,  and  willingly  climbed  the  higher 
and  rougher  path.  In  a  few  minutes  we  looked  down  into 
Feir^n.  As  we  descended  to  it  by  a  long  slope  of  more 
than  twenty  minutes,  the  top  of  Serbal  appeared  above  its 
high  cliffs  to  the  south-east.  The  first  noticeable  objects 
that  met  the  eye  as  we  entered  the  wady  were  the  trunks 
of  palm-trees  strewn  along  the  valley,  washed  down  by  for¬ 
mer  floods.  Having  entered  Feiran,  instead  of  proceeding 
onward  to  Sinai,  we  turned  down  the  wady  one  hour,  and 
encamped. 


238 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XL 

WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN,  MOUNTS  SERBAL  AND  SINAI. 

Our  camp  was  in  Wady  Feiran,  one  hour  toward  the 
sea  from  the  entrance  at  Aboo  Katteb.  We  desired  to  ex¬ 
plore  the  valley  to  its  mouth,  and  ascertain  its  fitness  for 
the  journey  of  a  great  and  heavily  laden  host.  The  width 
here  was  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  Just  below  us  it 
was  badly  washed  into  very  deep  gullies  two-thirds  of  its 
breadth,  by  torrents  that  had  poured  in  from  the  side  wa¬ 
dies  on  the  south.  At  half -past  seven  o’clock  (February 
13th)  we  set  off  to  trace  the  valley  to  the  sea.  It  was  much 
of  the  way  from  one  to  two  miles  broad,  sometimes  expand¬ 
ing  still  more  widely,  and  occasionally  narrowed  down  to 
the  width  of  a  half  or  a  third  of  a  mile.  It  was  shut  in 
between  continuous  ranges  of  high  sandstone  cliffs,  the 
strata  of  which  were  for  the  most  part  horizontal,  although 
near  our  camp  they  rose  eastward  at  an  angle  of  about 
forty-five  degrees,  and  near  the  month  of  the  wady  in  the 
opposite  direction.  The  course,  though  more  direct  than 
usual,  was  still  sufficiently  zigzag — ten  minutes  south-west, 
seventy-five  minutes  west,  then  seventy  minutes  south-west, 
ten  minutes  west-south-west,  fifteen  minutes  west,  and  final¬ 
ly  twenty-five  minutes  west-south-west. 

The  bed  of  the  valley  was  swept  along  some  parts  of  its 
width  by  winter  torrents,  and  occasionally  by  cross-streams 
from  side  wadies.  Numerous  dead  palms  lay  strewn  along. 
The  land  outside  of  the  watercourses  was  more  or  less 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


239 


sprinkled  with  tufts  of  desert  shrubs.  But  in  this  part  of 
our  journey  there  was  a  singular  absence  of  trees.  I  count¬ 
ed  but  six  trees  (acacias)  in  about  eleven  miles.  This  might 
be  easily  accounted  for,  not 


MICA  SCHIST 


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alone  or  chiefly  by  the  pow¬ 
er  of  the  winter  streams, 
but  more,  perhaps,  by  the 
commonness  of  the  thor¬ 
oughfare.  We  saw  a  few 
small  birds. 

After  three  hours  of  rapid 
riding,  which  we  estimated 
in  this  instance  at  nearly 
eleven  miles,  we  reached  the 
end  of  the  northern  rock- 
wall  of  the  valley,  but  the 
southern  one  extends  some 
two  miles  farther  toward 
the  sea ;  and  the  wady, 
bounded  for  some  distance 
on  the  north  side  by  a  high 
sand-bank  which  gradually 
fades  out,  extends  onward 
as  a  widening  depression 
to  the  sea.  We  rode  fifty 
minutes  from  the  end  of 
the  northern  rock-wall,  and 
estimated  the  entire  distance 
from  it  to  the  sea  at  five  or  six  miles.  The  plain  El 
Murklia  sweeps  north,  unbroken  and  entirely  level,  to  the 
point  where  we  had  entered  and  crossed  it  in  going  to 
Wady  Shellal.  We  could,  in  fact,  see  the  whole  distance 
up  to  the  encampment  by  the  sea,  and  could  see  that  there 


PORPHYRY 

DIOEITE 

MICA  SCHIST 

DIOEITE 
MICA  SCHIST 

DIOEITE 
MICA  SCHIST 


240 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


was  a  perfectly  practicable  passage  even  for  carriages  all 
the  way.  This  last  fact  was  proved  not  merely  by  the 
camel -tracks  entering  Feiran  from  the  north,  which  our 
Arabs  assured  us  came  from  Wady  Taiyibeh,  but  by  the 
clear  track  of  a  wheel-carriage  coming  into  the  valley  from 
the  same  direction.  At  first  I  could  scarcely  trust  my  eyes 
till  I  had  measured  in  a  dozen  places,  and  found  the  two 
lines  everywhere  equidistant,  and  had  furthermore  inquired 
of  the  Arabs,  who  assured  me  that  it  was  the  track  of  a 
vehicle  going  to  Tor.  The  way  thither,  it  seems,  enters 
here,  and  after  passing  up  the  valley  some  forty-five  min¬ 
utes,  turns  out  of  it  southward  at  an  opening  which  we 
noticed  on  our  return.  From  the  mouth  of  the  valley  to 
the  place  of  our  encampment  a  carriage  could  easily  be 
driven,  notwithstanding  an  occasional  rough  spot.  The 
main  difficulty  of  a  journey  to  Sinai  by  this  route  would 
consist  in  the  lack  of  water-supply,  as  the  Arabs  informed 
us  that  there  was  none  between  our  camp  and  the  northern 
end  of  Murkha,  where  we  had  passed  into  the  mountains. 
We  returned  to  our  camp  at  night,  well  satisfied  with  the 
result  of  the  day’s  observation. 

Saturday  (February  14tli)  we  were  under  way  at  eight 
o’clock,  soon  passing  the  path  to  Wady  Mukatteb,  by  which 
we  had  entered.  A  little  farther  along,  at  the  point  where 
Wady  Nisreen,  or  Aldr,  joins  Feiran,  I  counted  more  than 
seventy  “  nawamis,”  or  mosquito-houses.  They  were  the 
first  we  had  seen,  but  we  afterward  encountered  them  in 
many  places.  The  Arab  tradition  ascribes  all  this  class  of 
enclosures  to  the  children  of  Israel,  who  built  them  as  a 
shelter  from  the  mosquitoes  sent  upon  them  in  punishment 
for  their  sins.  Many  of  those  remains  were  particularly  ex¬ 
amined  and  described  by  Mr.  Palmer,  in  his  “  Desert  of  the 
Exodus.”  He  found  two  kinds  of  structures  bearino;  the 

CD 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  EEBRAN.  241 

name  of  “  nawamis ;”  first,  circular  houses  about  two  feet  in 
diameter,  built  of  unhewn  stone,  and  covered  with  a  careful¬ 
ly  constructed  dome-shaped  roof,  the  top  of  which  is  closed 
by  a  large  slab  of  stone;  the  entrance  is  by  a  low  door 
about  two  feet  wide.  They  exactly  resemble  the  bothan 
(shielings,  or  bee-hive  huts)  of  the  Shetland  Islands.  The 
second,  and  seemingly  more  ancient,  kind  consists  of  large 
stone  circles,  some  of  them  measuring  a  hundred  feet  in  di¬ 
ameter,  having  a  cist  in  the  centre,  covered  with  a  heap  of 
stones,  the  cist  containing  human  bones.  These,  however, 
did  not  correspond  exactly  to  either  description.  The  bee¬ 
hive  huts  we  saw  elsewhere.  These  remains  were  stone  cir¬ 
cles  about  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  with  central  cists,  none 
of  them  now  covered,  and  some  of  them  duo;  out,  measuring 
from  four  to  five  and  a  half  feet  long,  by  three  or  three  and 
a  half  feet  broad.  Just  beyond  this  point  were  sixteen  aca¬ 
cias,  and  six  more  a  little  farther  on.  Indeed  we  were  al¬ 
most  at  no  time  out  of  sight  of  one  or  more  of  these  trees. 
Tracks  of  gazelles  were  quite  numerous,  and  the  steps  of  a 
solitary  donkey  cheered  us  along,  till,  when  we  reached  our 
night  encampment,  the  first  sound  that  welcomed  us  was  his 
sonorous  bray.  As  we  proceeded,  the  valley  grew  much 
narrower  and  the  cliffs  higher,  the  strata  often  almost  verti¬ 
cal,  the  colors  more  varied,  but  also  more  sombre;  and  the 
dark-brown  rocks  were  streaked  with  seams  of  still  darker 
shade.  The  harder  seams  and  dikes  often  stood  out  like 
walls.  I  observed  two  groups  of  Sinaitic  inscriptions.  In 
one  place  there  were  two  acacias,  and  in  a  side  valley  forty. 
The  high  cliffs  became  even  more  majestic  in  their  barren 
grandeur,  and  the  colors  were  red,  brown,  purple,  dark- 
green,  and  in  shadow  almost  black.  Miss  Martineau,  with 
a  lady’s  eye  for  colors,  says  of  these  Sinaitic  rocks :  “  I 
noted  them  upon  the  spot  as  being  black,  green,  crimson, 

16 


242 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


lilac,  maroon,  yellow,  golden,  and  white.”  At  length  we 
turned  a  sharp  corner  and  came  in  sight  of  the  Ilesy  El 
Khattatin.  Here,  on  the  north  side  of  the  valley,  at  the 
foot  of  the  cliff,  was  a  large,  almost  cubical,  mass  of  fallen 
granite,  with  a  pile  of  small  stones  heaped  up  in  front,  some 
upon  it,  and  some  on  the  projections  of  its  sides. 

Mr.  Palmer  discovered  a  tradition  connected  with  this 
rock,  and  the  “  pebbles  placed  upon  every  available  stone  ” 
around,  as  follows :  “  When  the  children  of  Israel  sat  down 
by  the  miraculous  stream  and  rested  after  their  thirst  was 
quenched,  they  amused  themselves  by  throwing  pebbles 
upon  the  surrounding  pieces  of  rock.  This  has  passed 
into  a  custom,  which  the  Arabs  of  the  present  day  keep 
up  in  memory  of  the  event.  It  is  supposed  especially  to 
propitiate  Moses;  and  any  one  having  a  sick  friend  throws 
a  pebble  in  his  name,  with  the  assurance  of  speedy  relief.” 

We  paused  here  and  interrogated  our  Arabs,  but,  vexa- 
tiously  enough,  we  could  extract  from  them  no  such  tradi¬ 
tion.  Finding  all  indirect  methods  fail,  I  at  length  asked 
them  directly  if  it  had  any  connection  with  Moses  or  with 
water,  and  they  said  “No.”  I  pressed  the  inquiry  that 
evening  after  we  reached  our  camp,  where  several  other 
Arabs  were  collected.  But  they  knew  nothing  about  Moses. 
The  story  that  our  Arabs  gave  us  was  that  here  lived  a  der¬ 
vish,  a  magician  and  astrologer,  a  bad  man,  who  knew  ev¬ 
erything,  and  who  used  his  wonderful  knowledge  to  rob  and 
plunder  other  men ;  and  that  the  Bedouin,  as  they  pass, 
throw  stones  upon  the  rock  in  hatred  of  his  memory.  This 
same  story  was  repeated  by  one  of  the  Arabs  at  the  camp¬ 
ing-place. 

Of  course,  I  was  disappointed.  But  I  do  not  consider 
my  failure  as  discrediting  the  positive  information  received 
by  Mr.  Palmer.  He  had  a  great  advantage  in  his  power  to 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


24:3 


converse  freely  and  at  large  with  the  Arabs  in  their  own 
tongue,  whereas  I  was  restricted  by  the  necessary  interven¬ 
tion  of  the  dragoman.  Furthermore,  our  Sheikh  Selim  was 
a  comparatively  young  man,  and  not  specially  intelligent ; 
nor  did  any  of  our  Arabs  appear  to  be  persons  of  superior 
information  in  their  line.  The  failure  only  proved  these 
Arabs  to  be  ignorant  of  such  a  tradition  and  provided  with 
another. 

Accepting  the  tradition  as  given  to  Mr.  Palmer,  I  felt, 
and  still  feel,  greatly  the  force  of  the  considerations  urged 
in  favor  of  the  supposition  that  the  battle  of  Rephidim  was 
somewhere  in  this  vicinity.  The  lingering  tradition  well 
conforms  to  the  more  important  considerations  which  would 
support  this  opinion.  In  view  of  the  superior  route,  as  well 
as  the  previous  indication  of  the  known  camping-place  “  by 
the  sea;”  in  consideration,  also,  of  the  important  and  re¬ 
markable  oasis,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  Israelites 
could  have  failed  to  pass  this  way.  Here  too,  if  ever,  was 
a  prize  worthy  of  a  struggle  by  the  Amalekites.  If  the  lat¬ 
ter  nation  were  intending  to  attack  the  Israelites  at  all,  it 
was  high  time.  The  object  was  worthy,  the  place  was  fa¬ 
vorable,  entangled  as  the  Hebrews  were  in  the  mountains, 
shut  off  from  a  water-supply,  and  in  case  of  defeat  irrecov¬ 
erably  routed.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  pressing  set 
of  inducements  for  the  Amalekites.  And  it  is  equally  dif¬ 
ficult  to  understand  what  special  object  was  to  be  served,  as 
I  afterward  saw,  by  an  encounter  at  Watiyeh,  where  Robin¬ 
son  and  others  find  Rephidim.  We  can  understand,  too, 
the  aggravated  distress  of  the  Israelites,  who  had  come  over 
a  long  waterless  track,  and  were  at  this  place  within  three 
or  four  miles  of  the  flowing  brook  of  Feiran,  especially 
if  we  suppose,  as  the  juxtaposition  of  the  narration  would 
seem  to  warrant,  that  the  Amalekites  had  already  inter- 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


tions.  But  we  need  not  be  bound  by  any  theory  which 
would  make  that  hill  certainly  the  very  place  of  the  prayer. 
Enough  that  the  region  here,  just  before  arriving  at  the 
water  in  Wady  Feiran,  admirably  harmonizes  with  all  the 
circumstances  attendant  on  the  battle  with  the  Amalekites 
and  the  previous  miraculous  supply  of  water  from  the  rock. 

From  this  place,  which  we  are  by  no  means  constrained 
to  believe  marks  the  very  spot  of  the  miracle,  but  only  per- 


OASIS  IN  WADY  FEIRAN. 


24T 


posed  between  them  and  the  longed-for  fountain.  I  con¬ 
fess  that  these  grave  considerations  exerted  a  powerful  in¬ 
fluence  on  my  mind,  both  at  the  time  and  subsequently, 
as  furnishing  an  adequate  explanation  of  the  whole  transac¬ 
tion.  The  indications  which  are  suggested  as  giving  an 
appearance  of  extraordinary  sanctity  to  one  of  the  hills  of 
Feiran  (Tahuneh),  and  the  late  tradition  that  it  was  the 
place  of  Moses’s  prayer,  may  point  to  more  ancient  tradi- 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


245 


petuates  the  tradition  that  floats  over  the  vicinity,  we  soon 
came  in  sight  of  the  little  oasis  of  El  Hesweh,  with  its 
stream  soon  sinking  into  the  sand,  its  palms,  tamarisks,  and 
sidr-trees.  The  water  grew  more  copious  as  we  followed  it 
up,  becoming  a  sweet  little  brook ;  and  after  a  few  windings 
we  soon  came  in  sight  of  the  oasis  of  Feiran,  “  The  Pearl  of 
the  Desert,”  which  extends  several  miles  up  the  valley.  We 
passed  near  the  foot  of  Tahuneh,  which  lay  on  the  left,  dis¬ 
playing  conspicuously  its 
ruined  chapel  perched  on 
the  top,  and  close  by  us 
on  the  right  was  Mahar- 
rad,  with  its  ruins  of  a 
convent  and  church,  one 
of  whose  carved  capitals, 
lying  in  a  row  of  rough 
stones,  helped  to  form 
a  water-channel  by  the 
way.  We  crossed  the  swift,  pure  brook  that  hurried  on  its 
way,  and  we  soon  entered  our  tent,  pitched  in  the  shade  of 
a  lovely  palm-grove,  in  full  sight  of  Serbal,  lying  just  south. 
We  had  risen,  according  to  our  barometer,  some  eighteen 
hundred  feet  from  the  mouth  of  Wady  Feiran,  twelve  hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty  feet  of  it  during  the  day.  Before  dinner 
we  had  time  to  climb  the  hill  Maharrad,  once  a  kind  of  sa¬ 
cred  acropolis  of  the  episcopal  city  of  Pharan.  On  its  high¬ 
est  point  were  the  long  ruins  of  its  ancient  convent,  consist 
ing  of  sandstone  and  crude  brick ;  and  lower  down,  to  the 
north,  the  ruins  of  its  church  and  fragments  of  sandstone 
columns  were  scattered  round.  On  the  western  slope  of  the 
hill  were  the  remains  of  the  buildings  and  walls  of  the  old 
city.  There  were  chambers  or  passages  in  the  hill  beneath 
these  ruins,  and  over  opposite,  in  the  sides  of  Tahuneh,  were 


246 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


to  be  seen  numerous  holes,  in  which  the  hermits  once  bur¬ 
rowed  or  vegetated,  when  there  were,  it  is  said,  six  thou¬ 
sand  of  them  gathered  around  this  region. 

Sunday  (February  15th),  opened  bright  and  beautiful,  in 
this  secluded  spot.  Three  kinds  of  birds  were  chirping  and 
warbling  around.  The  sides  of  the  clear  stream  were  here 
and  there  enlivened  with  various  little  grain-fields  that  were 
kept  green  by  its  waters,  diverted  in  small  channels.  Palm- 
trees  grew  in  abundance,  half  filling  the  valley.  On  ev¬ 
ery  side  high  cliffs,  rising  from  eight  hundred  to  nine  hun¬ 
dred  feet,  formed  a  precipitous  circle  of  rich  sombre  hues, 
streaked  here  and  there  with  seams  of  brighter  color.  The 
sharp  peaks  of  Serbal  closed  the  opening  of  Wady  Aleyat 
toward  the  south.  Flowers  were  scattered  about  in  vari¬ 
ous  spots ;  and  as  I  walked  along  gathering  them,  the  little 
stream  glided  and  rippled  by  so  purely  over  its  rocky  bed 
that  it  w-as  impossible  to  resist  the  invitation  to  stoop  down 
and  “  drink  of  the  brook  by  the  way  and  lift  up  the  head.” 

After  morning  service  and  lunch,  we  climbed  Jebel  Ta- 
lmneh,  which  early  in  the  Christian  era  was  regarded  as 
the  place  where  Moses  prayed  when  his  hands  were  upheld 
by  Aaron  and  Hur.  The  height,  as  indicated  by  the  ba¬ 
rometer,  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Remains  of  sev¬ 
eral  rude  chapels  mark  the  rugged  way  up,  and  on  the  top 
are  the  ruins  of  a  more  pretentious  building.  A  double 
apse  and  fragments  of  sandstone  columns  were  still  to  be 
seen.  Antoninus  Martyr  (600  a.d.)  affirms  that  a  chapel 
stood  upon  the  spot  from  which  Moses  viewed  the  battle. 
The  place  is,  indeed,  a  sightly  one.  But  it  seemed  to  us 
much  too  near  the  probable  position  of  the  Amalekites — in¬ 
deed,  completely  exposed  to  be  cut  off  by  their  movements 
in  the  valley  below;  and  it  commanded  too  small  a  range 
of  view  down  Wady  Feiran  in  sight  of  the  Israelitish  host, 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN . 


247 


to  answer  well  on  any  ordinary  grounds  of  selection.  We 
went  thence  to  the  hill  west  of  it  (Jebel  Shiah),  and  found 
that  this  hill,  which  is  seven  hundred  feet  high,  and  pro¬ 
jects  farther  into  the  valley  that  curves  around  its  base, 
commanded  a  far  greater  range  of  view  east  and  west — 
perhaps  three  times  as  great,  besides  being  in  much  better 
communication  with  the  Israelitish  army.  Several  ruined 
buildings,  some  of  them  apparently  chapels,  were  scattered 
on  this  hill,  one  of  them  at  a  very  advanced  spot  toward 
the  valley.  The  question  occurred  to  us  whether,  after  all, 
this  might  not  be  the  hill  of  the  tradition ;  or,  if  not,  wheth¬ 
er  the  monks  had  not  taken  the  tradition  that  belonged  to 
the  place  in  a  more  general  way,  and  attached  it  specially 
to  Tahuneh  as  the  higher  eminence,  although  the  differ¬ 
ence  in  height  is  but  fifty  feet.  The  value  of  the  tradition, 
whatever  it  may  be,  is  not  essentially  affected  by  the  con¬ 
sideration  whether  it  has  attached  itself  to  precisely  the 
right  place.  N or  did  any  questionings  of  the  kind  prevent 
our  spending  a  delightful  Sabbath  in  a  romantic  and  charm¬ 
ing  seclusion,  nor  repress  the  strong  persuasion  that  in  this 
valley  we  were  at  least  upon  a  camping -ground  of  the 
chosen  people.  The  place  gave  additional  significance  to 
those  portions  of  the  Scriptures  which  formed  the  subject 
of  our  morning  service.  The  whole  day  was  a  day  of  rest 
long  to  be  remembered.  On  Monday  morning  (February 
16th),  at  seven  and  a  quarter  o’clock,  we  were  off  for  the 
summit  of  Mount  Serbal.  For  nearly  two  hours  we  rode 
up  Wady  Aleyat.  The  wady  contains  a  large  number  of 
acacias,  some  of  them  two  feet  in  diameter  at  the  bottom, 
which  live  and  flourish  in  spite  of  the  rocks  that  are  swept 
against  them  by  the  winter  torrents.  We  procured,  on  our 
return,  a  little  gum-arabic  from  these  trees  for  present  use, 
although  the  Arabs  had  already  made  pretty  thorough  work. 


248 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


At  the  upper  end  of  the  valley  were  a  few  palm-trees.  The 
bed  of  the  wady,  through  its  whole  length,  is  cut  up  and 
made  almost  impassable  by  the  winter  streams,  and  abso¬ 
lutely  covered  with  bowlder-stones  of  every  size,  strewn  so 
thickly  that  not  only  would  there  be  here  no  place  for  an 
encampment  or  a  dozen  tents,  but  no  comfortable  standing- 
place  for  any  considerable  body  of  people.  We  observed 
on  some  of  the  large  bowlders  near  the  side  of  the  valley 
inscriptions,  indicating  that  the  present  general  condition 
of  the  valley  is  of  ancient  date.  At  the  end  of  two  hours 
we  left  our  camels,  having  then  ascended  ten  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  from  our  camp.  Near  this  place  were  Sinaitic 
inscriptions  containing  figures  of  a  dog,  an  ibex,  a  serpent, 
and  camels.  Inscriptions  of  this  class  occurred,  indeed,  at 
various  points  both  before  and  after  this,  the  last  of  these 
being  within  fifty  feet  of  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 

We  were  now  near  the  foot  of  the  principal  one  of  the 
five  distinct  peaks  of  Serbal,  the  second  from  the  west.  We 
soon  struck  into  a  deep  ravine,  shut  in  between  huge  craggy 
rock-walls.  There  was  not  the  slightest  trace  of  a  path,  but 
our  wav  wTas  a  continual  climb  over  rough  rocks  and  over  a 
singularly  precipitous  ascent,  where  the  hands  were  often  as 
useful  as  the  feet,  and  at  times  it  was  almost  a  going  upon 
all -fours.  The  way  was  rendered  more  difficult  by  the 
snow,  which  made  its  appearance  at  the  height  of  fifteen 
hundred  feet  above  the  camp,  and  lay  sometimes  a  few 
inches  deep,  hard  and  icy,  and  in  many  places,  where  it  was 
drifted  or  where  the  sun  did  not  strike  it,  two  and  three  feet 
deep.  We  were  compelled  to  make  many  detours  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  snow.  Our  steps  were  often  jumps,  and  fre¬ 
quently  we  had  to  crawl  cautiously  over  a  high  rock  or 
ledge.  Our  dragoman  was  not  ambitious  to  make  the  as¬ 
cent,  but  remained  with  the  lunch,  far  down  in  the  ravine. 


ORDNANCE  SURVEY  MAP  OF  MOUNT  SERBAL. 


1.  Jebel  Tahuneh  ;  2.  El  Maharrad ;  3.  Jebel  Aliu  Shiah  ; 


Jebel  el  Muarras ;  5.  Summit  of  Serbal ;  6.  Jebel  Moneijah. 


. 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


249 


A  slow-moving  Arab,  our  ostensible  guide,  went  behind  us 
most  of  the  time,  while  a  little  fellow  of  twelve  led  the  as¬ 
cent,  and  skipped  along  like  an  ibex  all  the  way.  Straggling 
trees  of  four  different  kinds,  one  of  them  a  peculiarly 
gnarled  and  matted  species  of  acacia  (. so?it ,  or  sunt ,  corre¬ 
sponding,  as  many  think,  to  the  seneh ,  the  burning  bush), 
occurred  nearly  all  the  way.  Again  and  again  I  supposed 
we  had  seen  the  last  one,  but  we  continued  to  find  them  till 
within  perhaps  seventy-five  feet  of  the  summit.  Several 
kinds  of  herbs  continued  through  the  whole  distance,  and 
even  little  birds  were  chirping  more  than  half-way  up.  At 
the  height  of  twenty-two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  camp 
was  a  small  stream,  which  ran  a  few  rods  and  sunk  beneath 
the  rocks.  We  at  last  emerged  from  the  ravine  into  a  more 
open  ascent,  which  was  made  somewhat  difficult  by  the 
frozen  condition  of  the  surface  of  the  snow.  We  then 
passed  to  the  rear  of  the  mountain,  and  after  winding  al¬ 
most  round  it  we  reached  the  base  of  a  huge  rounded  and 
detached  mass  of  reddish  granite,  up  which  we  crawled,  and 
found  ourselves  on  the  highest  point  of  Mount  Serbal. 
From  the  time  we  left  our  camels  we  had  toiled  incessantlv 
for  three  hours  and  ten  minutes,  and  we  were  all  agreed 
that  it  was  the  severest  climbing  we  had  ever  done.  The 
British  Ordnance  Survey  recorded  a  similar  judgment.1  I 
had  been  in  a  profuse  perspiration  almost  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  and  now  found  occasion  for  all  my  wraps,  for  the 
thermometer  stood  at  thirty-seven  degrees,  and  the  wind 
was  keen  and  rough.  We  stood  at  the  height  of  six  thou¬ 
sand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  above  the  sea,  about 
four  thousand  of  which,  as  our  barometer  indicated,  we  had 
risen  since  leaving  our  camp  that  morning. 


1  F.  W.  Holland,  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  410. 


250 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  view  was  wide,  and  in  its  kind  superb — a  vast  mass 
of  seamed,  ragged,  bare,  party-colored  mountains,  intersect¬ 
ed  by  a  twisted  maze  of  deep  narrow  valleys,  that  were 
sharply  marked  by  their  sand-colored  beds.  Its  wildness 
seemed  like  a  caprice  of  nature — a  peep  into  some  other 
world,  almost  as  strange  as  the  surface  of  the  moon  seen 
through  a  powerful  telescope.  It  was  such  a  scene  as  can 
be  witnessed  probably  nowhere  else  but  on  this  peninsula; 
and  it  well  repaid  the  toil.  Our  starting-point  at  Suez  was 
indicated  by  the  clear  peak  of  Jebel  Atakah,  south  of  which 
could  be  seen  the  long  line  of  African  mountains,  and  on 
this  side  the  blue  waters  of  the  Red  Sea.  We  could  see 
where  we  had  crossed  the  plain  of  El  Murkha,  the  mouth 
of  Wady  Feiran,  and  south  of  that  the  long,  unbroken  plain 
of  El  Gaali,  the  palm-grove  of  Tor,  the  depression  that  forms 
the  end  of  Wady  Hebran.  From  Jebel  Atakah  eastward 
the  eye  ran  along  the  range  of  Et  Till,  the  heights  of  Sara- 
bit  el  Khadim,  the  sand-plain  of  Debbet  er  Ramleh,  and 
apparently  the  mountains  of  Edom  in  the  north-east,  till  it 
rested  upon  St.  Catherine  and  Um  Sliomer,  of  the  Sinai 
group,  in  the  south-east.  In  the  circle  between  lay  wadies 
Feiran,  Es  Sheikh,  Solaf,  and  a  whole  network  of  valleys 
twined  round  among  this  mass  of  dark-red  mountains,  ren¬ 
dered  as  distinct  to  the  eye  by  their  lighter  beds  as  though 
they  had  been  purposely  colored  on  a  map.  The  geography 
of  the  peninsula  indeed  lay  here  almost  completely  mapped 
out  to  the  sight.  It  gave  us  valuable  knowledge  of  some 
regions  which  we  could  not  visit.  Thus  we  could  trace  the 
whole  coast-line  as  far  as  Tor,  and  see  the  entire  practica¬ 
bleness  of  a  journey  to  the  mouth  of  Wady  Hebran. 

In  a  crevice  of  the  topmost  rock  wTe  found  a  bottle  con¬ 
taining  the  date  and  other  circumstances  of  the  Ordnance 
Survey,  and  another  bottle  containing  the  names  of  various 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


251 


other  persons  who  had  made  the  ascent.  We  added  our 
record  to  the  number.  With  one  final,  lingering  gaze  over 
this  grand  panorama,  which  we  were  never  to  view  again, 
we  turned  downward.  We  were  glad  to  halt  and  warm 
ourselves  by  the  lire  which  our  Arabs  had  kindled  at  the 
foot  of  the  great  summit-rock,  and  then  we  began  to  scram¬ 
ble  rapidly  down.  Occasionally  we  missed  our  foothold, 
and  had  some  narrow  escapes  from  severe  bruises,  if  not 
from  worse  accidents.  In  one  instance  a  friendly  bed  of 
snow  ingulfed  me  to  my  waist,  and  my  stick  went  gliding 
and  knocking  down  without  an  owner.  Another  of  the 
company  lost  his  balance  on  an  icy  place,  and  barely  saved 
himself  from  a  long  and  dangerous  slide  down  the  slippery 
rocks.  The  little  Arab  boy  even  badly  bruised  his  bare  leg, 
and  the  man  cut  his  bare  foot  so  as  to  track  the  way  with 
spots  of  blood.  But,  without  other  noteworthy  adventure, 
we  reached  our  camp  at  a  quarter  before  six,  after  a  toil¬ 
some  but  thoroughly  enjoyable  day. 

The  next  morning  (February  17th)  was  devoted  to  fur¬ 
ther  observations  in  the  vicinity.  I  went  to  examine  Wady 
Ajeleh,  which  runs  from  Wady  Feiran  toward  Mount  Ser- 
bal  on  the  western  side,  and  is  nearly  parallel  to  Wady  Ale- 
yat  on  the  eastern.  It  is  still  less  adapted  than  Aleyat  for 
the  purposes  of  an  encampment,  being  smaller,  more  cut  up 
with  gullies,  and  as  completely  covered  with  bowlders  of 
every  size.  Should  it  be  thought  that  the  valley  may  for¬ 
merly  have  been  less  encumbered  in  this  mode,  it  may  be 
replied  that  its  situation  must  always  have  kept  it  in  sub¬ 
stantially  the  same  condition.  And  moreover,  as  already 
mentioned,  the  large  stones  near  the  side  of  Wady  Aleyat 
bearing  Sinaitic  inscriptions  must  have  lain  there,  in  all 
probability,  not  less  than  fourteen  hundred  years.  The  re¬ 
sult  of  all  my  observations  here  was  to  satisfy  me  that  Ser- 


252 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


bal  and  its  surroundings  do  not  conform  to  the  Scripture 
narrative  of  the  transactions  at  Sinai.2  It  presents  no  con¬ 
venient,  nor  even  practicable,  room  for  a  great  encamp¬ 
ment,  or  for  the  assembling  of  a  great  body  of  people  in 
sight  of  the  peak,  much  less  within  “  touching  ”  distance  of 
it,  or  where  Moses  would  be  within  the  ready  reach  of 
them,  which  the  narrative  implies.  These  considerations 
are  so  decisive  as  to  render  it  unnecessary  to  accumulate 
other  objections. 

On  taking  a  further  survey  of  Jebel  Tahuneh,  its  aspect 
as  viewed  from  the  convent  was  certainly  very  command¬ 
ing  ;  but,  aside  from  all  other  considerations,  the  situation 
of  Jebel  Shiah  appears  much  better  adapted  to  the  purpose 
for  which  Moses  seems  to  have  ascended  the  hill.  I  ob¬ 
served,  also,  that  excepting  the  one  considerable  building 
at  the  top  of  Tahuneh,  Jebel  Shiah  has  as  many  evidences 
of  veneration  in  the  number  of  small  buildings  strung 
along  its  chief  ridge,  while  it  surpasses  the  other  in  the 
number  of  its  hermits’  holes.  On  the  west  side  I  counted 
as  many  as  ten  small  buildings,  and  one  or  two  of  superior 
size  and  appearance. 

Among  the  five  or  six  kinds  of  birds  that  we  saw  here 
was  a  brown  pigeon,  a  blackbird  with  white  wings,  and  a 
sweet-singing  brown  bird  like  a  thrush.  The  pigeon  be¬ 
longs  to  a  genus  of  which  Miss  Martineau  mentions  that 
she  saw  “  a  good  many,”3  and  which  are  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Holland  and  other  travellers,  but  of  which  Bishop  Colenso 
courageously  declared4  that  “in  the  desert  it  would  have 
been  equally  impossible  for  rich  or  poor  to  procure  them;” 


2  The  principal  writers  holding  that  Serbal  is  Sinai  are  Lepsius  and  Ebers. 

3  Quoted  by  C.  S.  Drew,  Colenso’s  Examination  Examined,  p.  66.  The  same 

writer  mentions  that  on  the  Desert  of  Tih  he  saw  “a  flight  of  birds  thousands 
in  number.”  4  Colenso,  The  Pentateuch  Examined,  p.  189. 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


253 


thus  proving  that  the  laws  concerning  sacrifices  could  not 
have  been  written  in  the  wilderness,  but  later,  in  Canaan. 

In  this  oasis  the  eye  is  arrested  not  alone  by  the  general 
grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  scene,  but,  when  it  dwells  upon 
the  details,  by  the  singular  composition  of  all  the  surround¬ 
ing  cliffs.  They  are  diversified  with  continually  alternat¬ 
ing  veins  of  porphyry,  granite,  diorite,  and  mica,  not  to  be 
matched,  says  Fraas,  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  The 
same  writer  mentions,  also,  a  fact  which  strongly  strikes  the 
notice  of  the  traveller — how,  in  coming  from  the  sea  to  Si¬ 
nai  by  Feiran  or  Hebran,  “every  intermediate  formation 
between  the  newest  sea-deposit  on  the  shore  and  the  oldest 
crystalline  mountains  is  absolutely  wanting,  and  has  always 
been  wanting.  Of  later  upheavals  in  palaeozoic  times,  or 
in  the  second  or  third  age  of  the  world,  there  is  not  one 
indication.  Fugged  and  steep,  in  undisturbed  and  restful 
majesty,  from  Serbal  to  Urn  Shomer,  and  from  Um  Sho- 
mer  to  Fas  Mohammed,  rises  in  vertical  cliffs  the  primeval 
gneiss  and  granite,  or,  in  mineralogical  terms,  the  masses  of 
colorless  quartz,  flesh-red  felspar,  greenish  hornblende,  and 
black  mica.  Fever,  from  the  time  of  their  formation,  have 
these  crystalline  masses  mingled  with  any  other  geological 
period  whatever;  from  the  beginning  of  things  have  they 
thrust  their  heads  out  of  the  ocean  untouched  by  Silurian 
or  Devonian,  by  Dyas  and  Trias,  by  Jura  and  chalk.  Only 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  fastness  has  the  Fed  Sea,  on  the 
one  side,  drawn  a  wreath  of  corals  about  Mount  Sinai,  and 
with  its  help  formed  in  modern  times  a  coast;  and  on  the 
other  side  has  the  sea  in  the  cretaceous  era  spread  out  on 
the  north  the  chalk  plateau  of  Et  Till  (four  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea),  which  extends  over  all  Syria  to  Lebanon.”6 


5  Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  pp.  7,  8. 


254 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  same  writer  describes  Mount  Serbal  as  constituted 
in  general  of  (1)  a  gray,  fine  gneiss,  which  forms  its  basis; 
(2)  a  magnificent  red  granite,  with  predominant  red  fel¬ 
spar  and  colorless  quartz,  extending  from  about  three  thou¬ 
sand  feet  above  the  sea-level  to  the  top  of  Serbal ;  (3)  trav¬ 
ersing  these  masses  of  gneiss  and  granite,  a  diorite-porphy- 
ry,  including  (a)  a  perfectly  black  diorite  -  porphyry,  (b)  a 
dark -green  diorite,  (c)  a  dirty-red  porphyry,  with  minute 
white  crystals  of  albite,  (d)  a  light-red  porphyry  with  albite 
crystals  and  quartz  grains,  (e)  brown-red  to  blood-red  por¬ 
phyry,  ( f )  the  same,  separated  by  inch-long  oligoclases.0 

We  passed  reluctantly  out  of  this  attractive  amphithea¬ 
tre.  The  palm-trees  and  water  continued  for  three-quar¬ 
ters  of  an  hour,  then  for  fifteen  minutes  succeeded  a  large 
number  of  tamarisks,  the  source  of  the  modern  “manna.” 
The  water,  meanwhile,  had  disappeared.  After  passing  the 
tamarisks,  the  valley  became  comparatively  dreary.  It  was 
along  here,  I  judge,  that  the  great  flood  which  Mr.  Hol¬ 
land  experienced  in  1867  “washed  away  two  miles  of  tam¬ 
arisk-wood,  which  was  situated  above  the  palm  -  groves,” 
and  “swept  down  to  the  sea  upward  of  a  thousand  palm- 
trees.”  As  he  lay  encamped  in  Wady  Feiran,  a  violent 
thunder-storm  had  burst  upon  this  region.  In  an  hour  the 
water  came  pouring  down  from  the  valley  above  so  fear¬ 
fully  that  he  ran  for  his  life,  and  some  fort}7'  Arabs  were 
hurried  away  and  destroyed  by  the  torrent,  which  filled  the 
whole  valley  eight  or  ten  feet  deep.7  Mr.  Holland,  in  de¬ 
scribing  this  occurrence,  remarks  on  the  increased  liability 
to  such  destruction,  just  in  proportion  as  the  region  had 
been  already  denuded  of  its  trees  and  vegetation.8 


6  Fraas,  Aus  dera  Orient,  pp.  8-10.  7  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  425. 

8  “  In  consequence  of  the  mountainous  character  of  the  peninsula  of  Sinai, 
the  destruction  of  the  trees  would  have  a  much  more  serious  effect  than  would 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  IIEBRAN. 


255 


Beyond  this  place  the  mountains  assumed  a  peculiar  as¬ 
pect,  such  as  I  had  not  previously  observed.  The  color 
became  dark-brown  and  gray,  seamed  with  red  and  black 
almost  as  distinctly  as  with  so  many  lines  of  red  and  black 
paint  running  down  their  sides.  In  about  an  hour  and 
three-quarters  from  our  camp  we  came  to  the  end  of  Wady 
Feiran.  Here  Wady  es  Sheikh  diverged  on  the  left,  reach¬ 
ing  Sinai  by  a  more  circuitous  but  more  level  way,  and  on 
the  right  branched  off  Wady  Solaf.  Hear  the  separation 
was  a  high  passage  in  the  rock,  called  El  Buweib  (“  the 
gate”),  through  which  we  passed, and  in  a  few  minutes  were 
in  Wady  Solaf,  on  the  shorter  route  to  Sinai.  We  soon 
met  a  company  of  a  dozen  [Russians  returning  from  a  pil¬ 
grimage  to  the  convent.  Their  appearance  and  equipment 
were  not  particularly  attractive. 

At  one  point  in  the  valley  the  lower  strata  of  rock  looked 
wet,  as  though  there  were  water  which  could  readily  be 
found  by  going  below  the  surface.  We  encountered,  dur¬ 
ing  our  afternoon’s  march  in  Wady  Solaf  of  nearly  two 
hours,  very  few  trees;  only  five  living  acacias,  and  occa¬ 
sional  retems,  which  here  grow  five  or  six  feet  high,  but 
which  we  had  seen  in  Feiran,  and  afterward  saw  in  many 
places,  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  height.  The  comparative 
scarcity  of  trees  along  here  may  be  due  in  part  to  the 
floods  which  sweep  the  wady,  pouring  down  its  high,  pre¬ 
cipitous  sides  with  great  and  destructive  force.  I  observed 
several  trees  in  a  row  that  lay  prostrate  and  dead.  Still  it 
was  surprising  to  see  how,  besides  the  desert  herbs  which 


be  the  ease  in  most  countries.  Formerly,  when  the  mountain-sides  were  ter¬ 
raced,  when  garden-walls  extended  across  the  wadies,  and  the  roots  retained 

the  moisture  and  broke  the  force  of  the  water,  the  terrible  floods  that  now  oc- 

* 

cur  and  sweep  everything  before  them  were  impossible.”  He  had  previously 
spoken  of  the  evidences  of  a  decrease  of  vegetation  in  the  peninsula. 


256 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


grow  in  those  parts  of  the  valley  out  of  reach  of  the  tor¬ 
rents,  every  little  ravine,  crevice,  and  seam  on  the  side-cliffs 
had  its  vegetation.  Clearly  a  large  number  of  climbing 
animals,  like  sheep  or  goats,  could  find  pasturage  here. 
And  the  thought  that  was  here  suggested  to  my  mind  was 
afterward  repeatedly  confirmed  by  the  sight  of  sheep  and 
goats  crawling  up  just  such  places,  and  feeding  busily. 
Besides  the  desert  perennial  herbs,  I  observed  that,  although 
it  was  still  but  the  end  of  winter,  the  surface  of  the  wady 
above  the  torrent -beds  was  thickly  dotted  with  germs  of 
plants  and  grass,  which  a  few  weeks  later  must  furnish  sus¬ 
tenance  for  cattle.  Indeed,  we  were  obliged  to  bear  in 
mind  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  signs  of  vegetation  which 
presented  themselves  along  our  journey,  we  were  seeing  the 
desert  in  its  most  desolate  condition.  Several  of  the  re¬ 
gions  that  were  almost  bare  when  we  passed  had  been  seen 
and  described  by  other  travellers  as  covered  with  green 
herbage.  We  halted  early  for  the  night  in  Wady  Solaf, 
near  its  point  of  connection  with  Wady  Hebran,  as  we  pro¬ 
posed  on  the  next  day  to  explore  the  latter  valley,  in  order 
to  judge  of  the  question  whether  the  Israelites  would  have 
been  likely,  as  some  have  suggested,  to  pass  down  the  sea- 
coast  to  the  neighborhood  of  Tor,  and  move  up  AYady  ITe- 
bran  to  Sinai. 

February  18th  we  were  in  motion  at  five  minutes  before 
eight  o’clock,  to  explore  AYady  Ilebran.  The  maps  indicated 
the  distance  from  our  camp  to  the  mouth  of  the  wady  to 
be  about  thirteen  miles.  But  the  Arabs  declared  it  to  be 
a  day’s  journey.  AYe  found  that  the  truth  lay  between  the 
two.  From  Wady  Solaf,  which  is  here  half  a  mile  wide, 
we  struck  directly  south  by  a  narrow  opening  into  another 
small  valley,  which  made  half  a  dozen  changes  of  direction 
in  thirty  minutes.  Our  path  then  left  this  valley  and  be- 


WADIES  FE1RAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


257 


gan  a  long,  winding  ascent,  over  a  rough  but  open  region, 
for  another  half-hour  (the  Nugb  el  Egaui  of  Lepsius),  dur¬ 
ing  which  we  passed  a  camel-track  leading  eastward  to 
Sinai ;  then  a  collection  of  nawamis  (bee-hive  stone  huts), 
some  of  them  entire,  even  to  the  flat  stone  covering;  then  a 
rock  with  Sinaitic  inscriptions;  and  then  another  collection 
of  nawamis.  We  saw  the  track  of  a  jackal,  and  of  smaller 
animals  of  the  size  of  squirrels.  After  reaching  a  height 
indicated  by  the  barometer  as  five  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
above  our  camp,  we  commenced  a  long,  winding,  rough,  and 
difficult  descent,  with  a  general  south-easterly  course.  The 
track  was  frequently  wide  enough  for  but  one  camel.  The 
passage  over  the  rocks  was,  in  repeated  instances,  by  nar¬ 
row  cuts  three  or  four  feet  deep,  and  once  by  a  long,  nar¬ 
row  passage,  nearly  twenty  feet  in  depth.  It  had  been  cut 
or  deepened  by  Abbas  Pasha  to  make  the  route  practicable. 
It  took  forty  minutes  to  reach  the  bottom  of  the  rough  de¬ 
scent,  which  even  in  its  improved  condition  would  be  im¬ 
practicable  for  carriages,  and  in  its  original  state  would 
seem  to  be  out  of  the  question  for  such  a  company  as  the 
Israelites.  Twenty-five  minutes  more  brought  us  to  a  little 
trickling  spring,  in  a  deep  gorge  lying  off  from  the  camel- 
path.  Though  we  were  now  in  the  entrance  of  Wady  He- 
bran,  the  way  continued  to  be  rough  for  about  forty  min¬ 
utes  more,  when  we  reached  the  point  where  the  wady  is 
joined  by  Wady  Isthmid  and  turns  nearly  west.  Over  the 
whole  southern  slope  that  we  had  for  some  time  been  cross¬ 
ing,  the  vegetation  was  further  advanced  than  I  had  seen  it. 
The  retem-bushes,  perfectly  sheeted  with  white  and  pinkish 
blossoms,  were  a  beautiful  sight.  All  along  the  wady  to 
this  point  a  good  deal  of  vegetation  was  making  its  appear¬ 
ance.  For  a  width  often  of  fifty  or  sixty  feet  by  the  side  of 
our  path,  there  was  a  continuous  strip  of  young  grass  just 

17 


258 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


peeping  above  ground,  which  in  two  or  three  weeks  would 
furnish  a  large  amount  of  pasturage.  In  many  places  below 
the  same  thing  was  true ;  but  in  general  below  this  point 
the  valley  was  more  swept  by  torrents. 

From  the  junction  of  the  valley  with  Wady  Isthmid  ap¬ 
peared  occasionally  double  lines  of  stone-wall,  placed  there 
when  Abbas  Pasha  attempted  to  make  a  thoroughfare 
through  the  wady.  They  are  for  the  most  part  in  ruins. 
At  noon  we  came  to  some  tamarisks,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
to  two  palms ;  then  to  small  groups  of  palms,  extending  at 
intervals  a  mile  and  a  half,  chiefly  in  places  where  they 
were  protected  by  projecting  spurs  of  the  cliffs,  or  by  strong 
barriers  of  huge  fallen  rocks.  We  naturally  looked  for  wa¬ 
ter;  none  was  visible  on  the  surface.  But  there  were  dead 
rushes  and  cat-tails  in  the  vicinity,  and  in  one  place  I  thrust 
my  stick  into  a  hollow  under  a  rock  and  found  the  soil 
moist.  As  it  was  now  near  one  o’clock,  and  we  must  return 
to  our  camp,  and  as  wTe  had  explored  the  questionable  part 
of  the  route,  we  did  not  go  farther  in  search  of  the  spring 
or  stream,  which  could  not  have  been  very  far  below.  It 
has  been  often  described  by  visitors.  Lepsius  found  “  a 
small  piece  of  water,  shaded  by  palm-trees.”  Wellsted 
found  “  a  little  rivulet,”  with  some  date-palms  on  its  banks. 
Brugsch  speaks  of  “  the  sweet-water  brook,  with  its  loud 
murmur,”  surrounded  by  palm-trees.  Fraas  calls  it  “a 
brook,”  which  disappears  after  a  drought.  December  28th 
the  water  stood  in  pools,  and  January  5tli  it  was  a  flowing 
brook,  which,  however,  did  not  reach  the  end  of  the  wady. 
Palmer  calls  it  a  perennial  stream,  which  it  probably  is,  ex¬ 
cept  in  very  dry  seasons.9 


9  Lepsius,  Letters  from  Egypt,  p.  291.  Wellsted,  ii.  47.  Brugsch,  Wanderung, 
p.  31.  Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  p.  12.  Palmer,  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  223. 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HE  BRAN. 


259 


As  I  was  searching  among  the  palm-trees  at  the  end  of 
our  route  for  water,  two  strange  Arabs  came  from  below 
and  halted  to  rest,  and  I  inquired  of  them.  They  at  first 
intimated  that  there  was  none  here.  But  apparently  sup¬ 
posing,  on  second  thought,  that  I  was  suffering  from  thirst, 
* 

one  of  them  courteously  left  his  companion  and  conducted 
me  up  a  little  gorge,  where  he  showed  me  a  small  rock- 
basin  full  of  rain-water.  1  took  a  draught,  out  of  compli¬ 
ment  to  my  guide.  These  two  men  were  the  only  living 
beings  that  I  remember  to  have  seen  in  Wady  Hebran,  ex¬ 
cept  one  or  two  hawks  and  a  few  small  birds.  Wellsted, 
however,  in  a  different  season  of  the  year  (September)  saw 
in  Wady  ITebran  the  web-footed  and  the  common  partridge, 
quails,  pigeons,  swallows,  hawks,  eagles,  as  well  as  a  poison¬ 
ous  snake,  which  the  Bedouin  asserted  to  be  deadly.10 

Before  turning  back,  we  took  such  an  observation  of  the 
way  below  as  the  enclosure  of  mountains  would  permit. 
The  wady,  which  had  been  hitherto  comparatively  smooth 
and  of  moderate  declivity,  here  began  rapidly  to  descend 
and  to  stow  rough.  Our  Arabs  informed  us  that  it  wTas 
passable  below,  “  neither  very  good  nor  very  bad,”  and  that 
it  would  take  five  hours  to  reach  the  end  of  it.  As  we  in¬ 
variably  found  that  they  gave  us  long  distances  when  we 
were  making,  or  about  to  make,  an  excursion,  we  naturally 
deducted  something  from  their  statement.  The  remainder 
of  the  way,  however,  was  evidently  an  ordinary  thorough¬ 
fare.  We  found  that  during  our  five  hours’  march  we  had 
first  risen  five  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of  our 
camp,  and  then  descended  eleven  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
below  that  level.  We  had  seen  for  ourselves  that,  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  much  greater  distance  from  Wad}7  Taiyibeh  to 


10  Reise,  ii.  50,  51. 


260 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


and  through  Wady  Hebran,  the  route  itself,  after  all  the 
improvements  of  Abbas  Pasha,  is  much  more  difficult,  and 
almost,  if  not  quite,  impracticable  for  such  a  company  as 
the  Israelites;  whereas  Wady  Feiran  offers  not  only  a  much 
shorter,  but  on  the  whole  a  very  easy,  route  through  its  whole 
extent.  It  is,  therefore,  difficult  to  suppose  any  motive 
which  would  induce  a  competent  leader  to  take  this  road  ; 
and  though  it  lias  found  its  advocates,  it  may  be  reason¬ 
ably  dismissed  from  consideration.  Very  likely  the  up¬ 
per  part  of  it,  like  many  other  wadies  opening  from  the 
main  route,  may  have  afforded  pasturage  for  a  portion  of 
the  flocks. 

On  the  morning  of  February  19th  the  thermometer  at 
six  and  a  half  o’clock  indicated  thirty-two  degrees,  the  low¬ 
est  point  which  we  had  observed  during  our  journey.  Be¬ 
fore  noon,  however,  it  rose  in  the  sun  to  ninety-nine  de¬ 
grees,  although  the  actual  temperature  in  the  shade  was 
fifty-nine  degrees.  Quite  near  our  camp  was  a  collection 
of  nawamis,  some  of  them  in  good  preservation.  We  set 
off,  with  our  personal  baggage  and  lunch  arrangements,  to 
go  by  the  shorter  and  harder  route,  over  Hugh  Hawa  (the 
“  windy  pass  ”),  while  the  loaded  camels  should  travel  by 
W  ady  es  Sheikh,  some  seven  hours  farther  (as  the  Arabs 
said),  to  avoid  the  hard  ascent  on  our  way.  We  proceeded 
first  by  Wady  Solaf,  level  and  uninteresting,  although  the 
distant  mountains  looked  like  plumbago  spotted  with  snow. 
After  thirty-five  minutes  we  shortened  our  route  by  taking 
a  valley  on  the  left  (Tahesi),  which  we  followed  nearly  an 
hour  and  a  half,  passing  the  tomb  of  Sheikh  Abu  Taleb,  a 
group  of  nawamis,  and  a  little  cluster  of  Arab  huts.  On 
re-entering  Solaf,  the  only  noteworthy  objects  were  a  small 
hawk,  some  ravens,  small  birds,  numerous  lizards  scudding 
about,  the  track  of  what  the  Arabs  called  “  a  lion  ”  (possi- 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HE  BRAN 


261 


bly  a  leopard),  and  other  tracks,  that  looked  like  those  of 
squirrels,  but  probably  were  not. 

In  three  hours  and  a  half  from  our  start  we  turned  some¬ 
what  abruptly  to  the  right,  and  passing  between  sand-banks 
twelve  feet  high,  we  began  to  rise  over  a  gradual  slope 
toward  Augb  Hawa.  After  passing  a  Bedouin  cemetery, 
consisting  of  mere  circles  of  stones,  with  one  or  two  stones 
in  the  middle,  in  forty  minutes  we  reached  the  foot  of  what 
proved  a  long  and  toilsome  ascent.  Here  was  a  tine  brook¬ 
let  purling  down  the  gorge  at  a  little  distance  on  our  left, 
which,  as  we  ascended,  continually  disappeared  and  reap¬ 
peared  among  the  rocks ;  sometimes,  when  completely  out 
of  sight,  revealing  its  presence  by  its  noise.  In  this  way  we 
tracked  it  upward  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes.  In  one 
place  a  few  small  palms  were  growing ;  in  two  or  three 
places,  far  up  toward  the  source,  little  rills  ran  across  our 
track  to  join  the  brook,  and  the  camels  stopped  to  drink. 
The  source  at  length  was  indicated,  at  the  top  of  the  pass, 
by  a  small  palm-tree,  growing  in  a  moist  soil,  and  rushes. 
And  when  the  Arabs  dug  two  holes,  six  inches  deep,  they 
immediately  filled  with  sweet  water. 

Meanwhile  we  were  toiling  up  the  rough  and  rocky  pass 
of  a  huge  mountain  gorge,  flanked  by  sombre,  weather-beat¬ 
en  cliffs  of  dark  red,  occasionally  seamed  with  other  colors, 
and  near  a  thousand  feet  high.  The  pass,  though  much 
longer,  was  scarcely  more  difficult  than  parts  of  that  the 
day  before  from  Hebran  to  Solaf.  Our  sheikh  pressed  us 
repeatedly  to  dismount,  apparently  under  pretext  of  inse¬ 
curity,  but  we  declined.  Some  other  travellers  (Graul,  for 
example)  had  thought  best  to  proceed  on  foot.  We  wished 
to  test  the  security  of  the  pass.  One  of  our  camels  twice 
lay  down  with  his  rider,  and  required  vigorous  measures, 
and  uttered  a  deal  of  growling,  before  he  would  get  up  and 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


JEBEL  SERBAL. 

s 

From  this  place  the  ascent  was  much  more  gradual, 
though  constant,  till  in  another  half-hour  Jebel  Musa  came 
in  sight  at  some  distance  on  our  left.  After  eighteen  min- 
utes  more  of  ups  and  downs,  we  reached  a  stream  rushing 
vigorously  down  into  Wady  T‘lah.  We  soon  crossed  one 
source  of  it,  which  issued  from  near  a  palm-tree  on  our 
left,  and  we  saw  another  source  running  from  the  rocks  on 
our  right.  We  still  continued  ascending  a  wide,  smooth 


262 


go  on.  We  did  not  wonder  that  the  loaded  portion  of  the 
camels  were  sent  round  seven  hours  farther.  The  encum¬ 
bered  portion  of  the  Israelites  could  hardly  have  climbed 
this  pass,  although  their  leader  might.  In  two  places  I  ob¬ 
served  Sinaitic  inscriptions.  When  we  halted  to  lunch  at 
the  top  of  the  steepest  part  of  the  pass,  and  close  by  the 
source  of  the  little  brook,  we  turned  over  a  stone  and  found 
a  scorpion  of  goodly  size,  but  now  motionless  with  cold. 


WADIES  FEIRAN  AND  HEBRAN. 


263 


slope,  till  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour  more  we  stood  on  the 
water-shed  and  looked  down  the  long,  broad  plain  of  Er 
Raliah  upon  the  mountain  rising  sharply  at  the  other  end — 
the  “  mountain  that  could  be  touched.”  The  first  thought 
was,  what  an  admirable  place  for  a  great  encampment;  and 
in  this  respect  what  a  contrast  to  any  place  in  the  immedi¬ 
ate  neighborhood  of  Serbal.  High  up  on  a  distant  peak  to 
the  right  could  be  seen  the  residence  formerly  built  by  Ab¬ 
bas  Pasha ;  before  us,  on  the  left  of  J ebel  Musa,  was  the 
convent  of  St.  Catherine ;  and  on  the  right  of  the  mountain 
the  gardens  of  the  former  convents  of  St.  Mary,  and  of 
Saints  Peter  and  Paul.  The  surface  of  the  valley  was 
smooth;  and,  with  the  exception  of  scanty  desert  herbs, 
now  entirely  bare,  although  at  a  different  season,  Mr.  Hol¬ 
land  writes  that  he  has  seen  it  a  vast  green,  “  with  blades 
of  grass  springing  up  in  every  direction  over  it.”11 

In  the  clear  air  of  the  desert  the  mountain  seemed  close 
at  hand;  but  it  took  half  an  hour  from  the  water-shed  to 
reach  the  foot  of  Pas  Sufsafeh,  its  northern  peak,  and  ten 
minutes  more  to  enter  Wady  ed  Heir  (the  “Valley  of  the 
Convent  ”),  where  we  passed  the  “  Hill  of  Aaron  ”  on  the  left. 
We  observed  that  the  convent  gardens  were  badly  washed, 
and  a  considerable  part  of  them  well-nigh  ruined,  by  tor¬ 
rents  that  had  descended  from  the  mountain,  prostrated  the 
walls,  and  swept  away  the  trees.  We  passed  a  little  stream 
now  running  down  the  valley,  and  in  a  few  minutes  drew 
up  at  the  convent  walls,  having  ascended  twenty-three  hun¬ 
dred  feet  from  our  encampment.  Two  or  three  monks 
stood  on  a  flat  roof  or  terrace  of  the  convent,  watching  our 
approach,  and  with  scarcely  a  minute’s  delay  we  entered 
through  the  little  iron  gate  over  the  remnant  of  a  snow- 

O  O 


11  In  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  American  edition,  iv.  3350. 


264 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


drift,  wound  our  way  through  a  series  of  narrow  passages 
into  a  small  open  court,  then  mounted  a  rude  wooden  stair¬ 
way  to  the  steward’s  room.  Here  we  were  ceremoniously 
received,  and  refreshed  with  some  kind  of  conserve  in  small 
quantities,  araJci  (which  we  did  not  care  to  drink),  and  more 
execrable  French  than  often  falls  to  the  lot  of  man  to  hear. 
As  our  tents  had  not  arrived,  we  were  to  spend  the  night 
here,  and  were  shown  to  very  comfortable  rooms  of  fair 
size,  provided  with  divans  and  cushions  around  the  sides,  a 
bed  in  one  corner,  a  table,  and  a  rude  washstand.  We 
afterward  found  good  reason  to  suppose  that  these  rooms 
contained  more  occupants  than  first  appeared  to  the  eye. 

From  the  door  of  our  room,  which  was  opened  out  of  a 
long  gallery,  we  overlooked  the  irregular  pile  of  buildings 
which  forms  the  interior  of  the  convent,  among  which  are 
a  church  and  a  mosque  in  fraternal  proximity.  The  Greek 
church  dates  back  as  far  as  the  time  of  Theodosius,  though 
the  tradition  not  only  carries  it  to  Justinian,  but  claims 
Helena  as  the  builder  of  one  tower.  The  mosque  is  de¬ 
clared  to  have  been  a  precautionary  device,  which  saved  the 
convent  at  the  time  when  the  Saracens  made  a  general  de¬ 
struction  of  such  establishments.  The  enclosing  walls  of  the 
convent,  forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  were  begun  by  Justinian 
when  the  empire  was  losing  its  hold  on  the  East,  and  com¬ 
pleted  by  Hapoleon’s  general,  Kleber.  But  the  monastery 
was  founded  far  earlier  than  Justinian.  In  the  fourth  cen¬ 
tury  the  region  of  Sinai  was  full  of  hermits :  Eusebius  re¬ 
fers  to  them  early  in  the  third  century;  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  Egyptian  and  Syrian  persecutions  of  the  second 
century  compelled  them  to  find  here  a  refuge.  The  place 
has  venerable  associations. 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


265 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW -GIVING. 

The  morning  of  February  20th  opened  clear  and  bright, 
and  just  cool  enough  for  a  mountain  climb.  AVe  had  a 
long  talk  with  the  monks,  endeavoring  to  make  them  com¬ 
prehend  and  accept  our  plans.  They  seemed  particularly 
desirous  to  prolong  our  stay  at  and  in  the  convent,  and 
wished  us  to  delay  our  mountain  excursion.  The  dragoman 
afterward  complained  bitterly  of  the  exorbitant  charges 
which  they  fastened  upon  him  for  the  night’s  hospitality, 
for  the  supplies  which  he  bought  of  them,  and  for  guidance 
about  the  region  of  Sinai ;  and  if  his  statements  were  true, 
he  had  some  provocation  to  call  them  by  some  of  the  hard 
names  which  he  bestowed  on  them  liberally.  Joseph  was 
moved  to  call  them  “  thieves.” 

At  five  minutes  after  nine  o’clock  we  succeeded  in  get¬ 
ting  off.  Our  guide  was  brother  Nicholas  of  the  convent, 
a  stout  good-natured  fellow  who  spoke  “  pigeon  -English.” 
We  emerged  from  the  convent  garden  on  the  side  next  the 
mountain,  soon  entered  a  ravine  that  runs  obliquely  up¬ 
ward,  and  in  twenty  minutes  reached  the  fine  spring  which 
Robinson  names  simply  the  “  Mountain  Spring,”  which  the 
Arab  tradition  calls  the  “  Fountain  of  Moses”  (viz.,  where 
he  watered  Jethro’s  flock),  which  a  monkish  legend  as¬ 
cribes  to  the  prayers  of  the  holy  abbot  Sangarius  in  time 
of  drought,  and  which  our  brother  Nicholas  named  the 
“Fountain  of  Simeon.”  Traditions  here  are  abundant  and 


266 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


cheap,  and  the  last  announcement  was  new  to  us.  Thence 
nearly  twenty  minutes  more  wo  followed  a  little  brook, 
caused  by  the  melting  snow,  to  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin, 
a  rude  stone  building  twenty-five  feet  by  twelve,  immortal¬ 
izing  the  alleged  removal  of  the  plague  of  fleas  from  the 
convent,  performed  by  the  Virgin,  who  appeared  on  this 
spot  to  the  oeconomos  and  gave  the  promise.  Robinson, 
Bonar,  Randall,  and  Palmer,  however,  severally  testify  that 
they  did  not  reap  the  benefit  of  this  deliverance  when  in 
the  convent ;  and  Brugsch  narrates  a  still  more  melancholy 
tale  of  midnight  suffering,1  although  the  prior  assured  Ebers 
that  he  could  confidently  offer  a  piece  of  gold  to  every  pil¬ 
grim  who  after  a  protracted  abode  would  find  a  single  tor¬ 
mentor. 

The  melting  snow  led  us  to  inquire  of  Nicholas  concern¬ 
ing  the  whole  amount  of  rainfall.  He  informed  us  that  it 
rains  or  snows  perhaps  twenty  times  in  the  year — sometimes, 
though  not  often,  two  or  three  days  together.  lie  said  that 
on  May  10th,  1872,  a  rain  of  two  hours,  accompanied  with 
hail,  swept  the  track  through  the  garden -walls  which  we 
had  observed  in  passing,  and  almost  ruined  the  garden. 
This  year  there  had  been  twice  the  usual  amount  of  snow. 

The  path  was  moderately  good,  having  been  in  many 
places  improved ;  and  we  found  the  ascent  much  easier  than 
that  of  Serbal,  partly  because  of  the  much  better  wray,  and 
partly  also  by  reason  of  the  much  shorter  remaining  dis¬ 
tance.  For  the  gradual  rise  of  the  journey  had  been  such 
that  from  the  convent  there  remained  but  2340  feet  to 
climb  of  the  whole  height  (7363  feet)  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  Soon  after  leaving  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin,  and 

1  He  alleges  (Wanderung,  p.  3*7)  that  the  bed  of  his  friend  was  shared  one 
night  by  one  young  scorpion,  three  locusts,  and  thirty-eight  bugs,  by  positive 
count. 


Wmm 

\ '  ■ 


mm 


M  -  Mi 

ORDNANCE  SURVEY  MAP  OF  MOUNT  SINAI. 


1.  Ras  Sufsafeh  ;  2.  Chapel  of  Elijah ; 


3.  Summit  of  Jebel  Musa;  4.  El  Bustan;  5.  Convent;  6.  Hill  of  the  Golden  Calf;  7.  Jebel  Moneijah;  8.  Jebel  Ghubsheh ;  9.  Jebel  Sonii; 
10.  Jebel  Abu  Madhi ;  11.  Jebel  Aribeh ;  12.  Jebel  es  Salib ;  13.  Jebel  ed  Deir ;  14.  Ujreb  el  Mehd. 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


267 


passing  successively  two  gate -ways,  we  reached  a  plain 
where  the  most  conspicuous  object  was  a  tall  cy press-tree 
three  feet  in  diameter — probably  one  of  “  two  great  trees” 
which  Niebuhr  saw  here  in  1762.  Its  fresh  deep  green  was 
strikingly  conspicuous  in  contrast  with  the  red  and  gray 
bare  rocks  rising  around.  Very  near  to  it  is  a  well  of  pure 
water,  and  beyond  it  the  enclosure  of  a  ruined  garden.  A 
few  rods  farther,  on  the  left,  and  where  the  ascent  of  the 
mountain  is  resumed,  stands  a  low  stone  building  (sixty-six 
feet  by  thirty-two).  One  end  of  this  is  the  chapel  of  Eli¬ 
jah,  in  which  a  fissure  or  hole  back  of  the  altar,  about  the 
size  of  a  man,  is  said  by  the  monks  to  be  the  place  where 
Elijah  stayed  (1  Kings  xix.  8,  9).  Another  apartment,  of 
which  the  roof  was  gone  and  one  side  of  the  wall  ruined,  is 
the  chapel  of  Elisha.  Our  guide  designated  a  third  apart¬ 
ment  as  the  chapel  of  Moses — another  apparent  improve¬ 
ment  upon  the  ancient  circle  of  monkish  traditions.  Thir¬ 
ty-five  minutes  more  of  vigorous  climbing,  making  an  hour 
and  a  half  from  the  convent,  brought  us  to  the  summit. 
On  the  highest  point  stands  the  rude  building  named  the 
Chapel  of  Moses,  and,  a  little  below,  a  small  mosque.  Be¬ 
neath  the  chapel  is  a  hole,  which  the  monks  affirm  to  be  the 
cleft  in  which  Moses  was  hidden  (Exod.  xxxiii,  22)  when 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  passed  by.  I  crawled  into  the  hole 
and  saw  the  rude  hollow  in  the  top  of  the  rock  which  they 
call  the  print  of  Moses’s  head,  and  another  which  is  the 
print  of  his  hand,  into  which  the  hand,  with  shut  fingers, 
will  fit  after  a  sort.  From  the  top  of  the  chapel  the  view 
included  the  Red  Sea  on  the  west,  and  a  thread  of  its  blue 
waters  (the  Gulf  of  Akaba)  extending  along  the  east  and 
south-east.  Mounts  Serbal  and  Urn  S homer  were  not  in 
sight ;  but  it  was  because  they  were  hidden  by  the  tower¬ 
ing  mass  of  St.  Catherine,  the  highest  peak  of  the  penin- 


268 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


sula,  and  by  Jebel  Tineh ;  while  in  every  direction  lay  vast 
piles  of  dark  brown  and  red  mountains,  shooting  up,  rug¬ 
ged,  bare,  and  solemn,  from  the  twisted  network  of  fawn- 
colored  valleys.  Seemingly  close  at  our  feet,  far  below, 
lay  Wady  Sebaiyeh. 

We  entered  the  chapel,  and  found  various  small  paint¬ 
ings  representing  scenes  of  Christ’s  history.  Among  them 
was  a  baptism,  in  which  he  is  represented,  as  in  almost  all 
paintings,  from  that  oldest  one  of  all  in  the  catacomb  of 
San  Callisto  at  Rome,  standing  in  the  water,  while  John,  on 
the  bank,  pours  water  upon  his  head. 

After  a  long  and  delightful  gaze  over  this  strange  sce¬ 
nery,  seen  through  an  atmosphere  absolutely  pure  and  per¬ 
fect  (at  a  temperature  of  sixty-five  degrees),  we  gathered 
our  specimens  of  Sinaitic  rock,  descended  to  the  fountain 
of  Elijah,  lunched  in  the  shade  of  the  venerable  cypress, 
and  started  for  Ras  Sufsafeh  (the  “Willow  Peak”),  at  the 
northern  end  of  the  mountain,  nearly  two  miles  away.  A 
considerable  descent  of  eighteen  minutes  brought  us  to  the 
chapel  of  John  the  Baptist,  which  brother  Nicholas  called 
the  house  of  Gregory,  where  there  was  an  enclosure  con¬ 
taining  four  trees  and  a  fountain  fifteen  or  twenty  feet 
deep,  full  #  of  water.  Twenty-five  minutes  later,  after  an 
ascent  and  a  descent,  we  reached  the  chapel  of  the  Holy 
Zone  of  the  Virgin,  and  quite  near  it,  in  a  depression  of 
the  mountain,  the  willow-tree  which  gives  name  to  the 
peak  above.  All  the  way  we  had  seen  traces  of  the  ibex, 
and  found  abundance  of  good  water.  From  this  point  we 
climbed  sharply  up,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  stood  in  the  re¬ 
markable  cleft  of  Ras  Sufsafeh,  where  the  whole  great 
plain  of  Er  Ealiali  lay  spread  out  before  us.  The  sides  of 
the  enclosing  gorge  rose  in  vertical  walls,  and  we  looked 
down  almost  perpendicularly  to  where  the  plain  came  up 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


269 


snug  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  A  theory  advanced  by 
Dieterici,  and  favorably  mentioned  by  Palmer,  but  not  ne¬ 
cessary,  is,  that  Moses  may  have  received  the  law  on  some 
other  part  of  the  mountain  (perhaps  at  the  point  Jebel 
Musa),  but  that  from  this  part  of  the  mountain  it  was  pro¬ 
claimed  to  the  people.2  Two  millions  of  persons,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  actual  computation  of  Captain  Palmer,  could 
have  stood  in  sight  of  us  from  this  cleft,  and  each  have 
had  a  square  yard  of  standing-room.3 

From  this  point  we  mounted,  still  higher,  till  for  about 
thirty  or  forty  feet  we  actually  crawled  by  a  difficult,  if  not 
dangerous,  way  up  the  sides  of  a  great  round  rock  to  t^ie 
peak.  Here  the  view  was  somewhat  more  extensive,  but 
hardly  less  striking.  The  proclamation  of  the  law  could 
have  been  made  just  as  well  from  the  cleft  below  as  from 
the  summit.  Among  the  red  and  reddish-brown  mountains 
all  around,  the  tops  of  three  seemed  almost  black. 

Returning  to  the  willow,  we  started  to  descend,  not  by 
the  way  we  came,  but  by  the  gorge  on  the  north-east  side 
(Sikket  Shoeib,  or  “Jethro’s  Path”),  by  which  possibly  Moses 
may  have  descended  when  he  heard  the  sounds  of  the  camp 
before  he  could  see  what  was  taking  place  there.  We  were 
completely  shut  in  by  the  sides  of  the  gorge  till  just  as  we 
emerged  from  it  near  the  bottom.  There  was  no  sound 
below  for  us  to  hear,  but  we  could  readily  accept  Mr.  Palm¬ 
er’s  statement  that,  while  descending  here,  he  had  distinct¬ 
ly  heard  the  sounds  of  his  own  camp  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  while  entirely  hidden  from  view.  If  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  golden  calf  be  supposed  to  have  taken  place  any¬ 
where  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  so-called  “Hill  of  Aaron,” 
this  circumstance  would  be  in  striking  conformity  with  the 


2  Kurtz’s  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,  iii.  98.  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  114. 

3  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  117. 


270 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


several  other  facts  which  singularly  adapt  this  place  to  be 
the  scene  of  the  law-giving. 

The  passage  by  which  we  descended  was  of  the  steepest, 
the  rocks  often  loose,  and  the  descent  hard.  Between  the 
almost  perpendicular  cliffs,  sometimes  singularly  honey¬ 
combed,  and  along  the  course  of  a  little  rill,  and  with  oc¬ 
casional  stumblings  and  trippings,  we  made  our  way  in  safe¬ 
ty  to  the  plain  in  just  fifty  minutes  after  leaving  the  willow, 
and  in  an  hour  and  a  quarter  from  the  top  of  Bas  Sufsafeh. 
The  latter  point  our  barometer  had  indicated  as  six  hundred 
and  thirty  feet  lower  than  the  peak  of  Jebel  Musa. 

Our  tents  we  were  glad  to  find  pitched  near  the  convent, 
between  it  and  Jebel  Miisa. 

February  21st  we  set  out  to  examine  Wady  Sebaiyeh, 
which  the  monks  hold  to  be  the  place  of  gathering  the 
people  to  receive  the  law,  a  view  which  seems  still  to  be 
supported  by  Graul,  F.  A.  Strauss,  and  even  by  Tischen- 
dorf.  Our  way  followed  the  road  of  Abbas  Pasha,  first 
rising  about  seven  hundred  feet,  and  then  descending  three 
hundred  and  fifty.  On  reaching  Wady  Sebaiyeh,  we  exam¬ 
ined  it  from  end  to  end.  By  pacing  it,  we  found  it  to  be 
about  seven  thousand  feet  in  length,  and  in  most  parts  from 
four  to  six  hundred  feet  in  breadth,  though  wider  in  some 
places.  It  was  subsequently  carefully  measured  with  instru¬ 
ments  by  my  son,  Mr.  Edwin  J.  Bartlett.  Nearly  the  whole 
surface  is  thickly  covered  with  sharp  and  rough  stones,  rang¬ 
ing  from  the  size  of  hickory -nuts  to  the  size  of  one’s  head, 
and  larger.  There  was  scarcely  a  good  place  for  three  tents 
together,  or  any  good  standing-place.  While  better  than 
wadies  Aleyat  and  Ajeleh  at  Mount  Serbal,  it  is  vastly  in¬ 
ferior  in  this  respect  to  Er  Bahali,  which  is  as  smooth  as  a 
floor.  It  is  also  very  greatly  inferior  to  it  in  capacity.  Its 
entire  area,  as  determined  by  measurement,  is  but  one  him- 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


271 


dred  and  forty-five  acres.  Even  if  we  add  to  this  the  sur¬ 
rounding  slopes  so  far  as  available,  it  is  not  only  vastly  in¬ 
ferior  in  capacity  to  Er  Rah  ah,  but  positively  inadequate. 
Its  insufficient  size,  when  once  known,  would  seem  of  itself 
to  settle  the  question  whether  it  was  the  plain  of  assembly 
for  the  proclamation  of  the  law.  I  cannot  learn  that  it  had 
been  carefully  measured  before,  till  the  time  of  the  Ordnance 
Survey;  and  this  circumstance  alone  will  account  for  the  fa¬ 
vorable  opinion  concerning  it  held  by  writers  so  judicious  as 
Kurtz  and  Ritter  upon  the  general  statements  of  Graul  and 
Strauss.  It  still  further  fails  to  meet  the  apparent  condi¬ 
tion  of  proximity  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  so  that  the 
people  could  “  stand  at  the  nether  part  of  the  mount,”  and 
required  that  Moses  “set  bounds  around  the  mount,”  lest 
“  the  people  break  through.”  For  here  Jebel  Sebaiyeh, 
some  eight  hundred  feet  high,  lies  between  the  valley  and 
Jebel  Musa,  so  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  the  people’s 
coming  at  the  mount  without  a  previous  process  of  hard 
climbing,  or  a  very  long  walk  around ;  whereas,  Er  Rahah 
comes  up  to  the  very  foot  of  Ras  Sufsafeh,  on  the  north¬ 
eastern  side.  Furthermore,  all  the  springs  are  on  the  other 
side  of  the  mountain,  and  none  in  this  valley,  although  its 
slope  is  so  considerable  (some  two  hundred  feet  by  the  ba¬ 
rometer)  that  in  times  of  rain  it  must  be  swept  by  the  water, 
as  appearances  also  indicate.  The  eastern  point  of  Jebel 
Musa  is,  indeed,  in  full  sight  from  every  part  of  it  (except 
immediately  under  the  lee  of  Jebel  Sebaiyeh) ;  but,  while 
in  this  respect  it  offers  no  advantage  over  Er  Rahah,  it  is  in 
every  other  respect  vastly  less  conformed  to  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  the  narration.  On  the  whole,  after  taking  subse¬ 
quent  careful  views  of  Er  Rahah,  I  could  not  for  one  mo¬ 
ment  hesitate  to  add  my  vote  to  that  of  Robinson,  Stanley, 
Palmer,  Holland,  and  the  whole  Ordnance  Survey;  and  I 


272 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


could  appreciate  the  surprise  with  which  Ebers  walked 
Wady*  Sebaiyeli,  and  called  it,  rather  strongly,  “a  rock- 
and-hill-abounding  defile,  in  no  wise  fitted  for  a  camping- 
ground.”  Strauss,  however,  supposes  the  camp  to  have  been 
in  Er  Rah  ah  and  Es  Sheikh,  and  the  people  to  have  been 
led  out  of  the  camp  to  Wady  Sebaiyeli  to  receive  the  law. 
This  hypothesis  is  not  only  a  confession  of  the  unfitness  of 
the  place  for  a  camping-ground,  but  an  overlooking  of  its 
unsnitableness  for  even  a  good  standing-place,  and  its  inad¬ 
equate  capacity.  It  involves,  also,  a  circuitous  march  to 
reach  a  spot  destitute  of  every  recommendation,  except  its 
conformity  to  a  monkish  tradition.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr. 
Holland  briefly  and  truly  sums  up  the  description  of  Er 
Rahah  thus:  “The  plain  itself  is  upward  of  two  miles  long 
and  half  a  mile  broad,  and  slopes  gradually  downward  from 
the  water-shed  on  the  north  to  the  foot  of  Ras  Sufsafeh. 
About  three  hundred  yards  from  the  actual  base  of  the 
mountain  there  runs  across  the  plain  a  low  semi-circular 
mound,  which  forms  a  kind  of  natural  theatre,  while  far¬ 
ther  distant,  on  either  side  of  the  plain,  the  slopes  of  the 
enclosing  mountain  would  afford  seats  to  an  almost  unlim¬ 
ited  number  of  spectators.”  He  adds  that  “  there  is,  near 
the  mouth  of  Wady  Leja  [which  opens  into  Er  Rahah  on 
the  west],  an  extensive  recess,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  long 
by  three-quarters  broad,  which  would  add  largely  to  the 
camping-ground  so  situated.” 

Mr.  Holland,  who  has  been  over  the  peninsula  in  every 
direction,  remarks  also  that  “  there  is  no  other  district  in  the 
peninsula  which  affords  such  excellent  pasturage”  as  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  Jebel  Musa,  “  and  that  it  would 
bear  comparison  with  many  mountain  districts  in  Scotland 
with  regard  to  its  supply  of  water.”  He  enumerates  four 
streams  of  running  water  which  are  found  there,  and  in 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


273 


close  proximity  to  each  other,  especially  the  first  three : 
“  One  in  Wady  Leja  [where,  perhaps,  the  golden  calf  was 
thrown  when  ground  to  powder — it  runs  just  at  the  foot  of 
Jebel  Sufsafeh]  ;  a  second,  in  Wady  T‘lah,  which  waters  a 
succession  of  gardens  extending  more  than  three  miles  in 
length,  and  forms  pools,  in  which  I  have  often  had  a  swim ; 
a  third  rises  to  the  north  of  the  water-shed  of  the  plain 
of  Er  Rahah,  and  runs  westward  into  the  Wady  T‘lah  [the 
one  which  we  crossed  on  our  way]  ;  and  a  fourth  is  formed 
by  the  drainage  from  the  mountains  of  Uin  Alawy,  to  the 
east  of  Wady  Sebaiyeh,  and  finds  its  way  into  that  valley 
by  a  narrow  ravine  opposite  Jebel  ea  Deir.  In  addition  to 
these  streams,  there  are  numerous  springs  and  wells,  afford¬ 
ing  excellent  water.”4  Of  these  other  fountains  we  had  al- 
ready  seen  three  to-day — the  Mountain  Spring,  the  Foun¬ 
tain  of  Elijah,  and  the  well  at  the  chapel  of  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist,  with  other  indications  of  water  between  these  last  two. 
On  our  return,  Nicholas  mentioned  another  large  and  con¬ 
stant  spring  on  the  mountain-side,  back  of  the  convent,  a 
little  north  of  what  he  called  “  Simeon’s  Spring,”  at  a  spot 
which  he  pointed  out :  whether  the  same  beautiful  fountain 
with  the  fig-tree,  where  the  water  issues  directly  from  a  hole 
in  the  granite  cliff,  which  so  impressed  Eraas,5  and  remind¬ 
ed  him  of  the  transaction  in  Exodus  xvii.  6,  his  description 
of  the  locality  is  not  definite  enough  to  determine.  Very 
near  our  tent,  above  the  convent,  was  also  a  large  reservoir 
cut  in  the  rock,  as  brother  Nicholas  said,  by  Justinian.  It 
was  twenty-six  feet  square  and  thirty  feet  deep,  but  con¬ 
tained,  when  we  measured  it,  only  three  feet  of  water,  from 
which  we  conjectured  that-  there  must  be  some  leak  or  out¬ 
let.  Besides  these  may  be  mentioned,  in  this  connection, 


4  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  412. 


18 


5  Aus  dem  Orient,  p.  25. 


274 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  monks’  Well  of  Moses,  in  the  heart  of  the  convent;  an¬ 
other  well,  with  a  bucket,  just  below  the  convent  garden ; 
and  the  Well  of  Abbas  Pasha,  near  the  opening  of  Wady 
ed  Deir.  All  these  wells  and  fountains, besides  four  streams 
that  fell  under  our  observation  in  the  vicinity,  sufficiently 
indicate  the  very  considerable  water-supply  of  this  immedi¬ 
ate  region. 

In  connection  with  the  various  indications  which  unite  to 
suggest  this  as  the  probable  scene  of  the  law-giving,  should 
not  be  forgotten  an  additional  circumstance  of  contrast  in 
Serbah  The  latter  mountain  has  no  distinct  individuality  and 
clear  isolation.  It  is  a  serrated,  or  rather  dentated,  mountain 
range,  with  several  co-equal  peaks,  all  extremely  difficult  of 
ascent,  provided  even  a  fitting  place  were  found  for  the 
people  near  its  base.  Jebel  Musa,  or  rather  Sufsafeh,  while 
affording  this  magnificent  amphitheatre  at  its  very  foot,  and 
while  so  facile  of  ascent,  rises  sharp,  grand,  and  absolutely 
separate  and  solitary;  a  unique  temple,  not  made  with  hands, 
fit  resting-place  for  the  glory  of  the  sole  Jehovah.  “We  in¬ 
wardly  recoil,”  says  Fraas,  “  from  seeking,  in  the  wild,  many- 
pointed  rock-clefts  of  Serbal,  the  place  where  the  teaching 
went  forth  from  the  one  eternal  God  ;  with  such  a  thought 
far  better  harmonizes  the  one  majestic  peak  of  Jebel  Musa.” 
The  remark,  bearing  as  it  does  upon  the  impressive  mean¬ 
ing  of  the  scene,  is  something  more  than  poetry. 

In  the  afternoon  we  started  for  Wady  Leja,  going  down 
Wady  ed  Deir  and  round  Pas  Sufsafeh.  As  we  passed  the 
convent  garden,  the  water  was  running  in  a  little  stream 
beneath  its  garden-walls,  soon  losing  itself  in  the  sand ; 
probably  a  transient  stream,  due  to  the  melting  of  the  win¬ 
ter’s  snow  or  to  the  early  rains.  I  observed  that  though 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  large  convent  gardens  seem  to  have 
been  swept  away  by  the  storm  two  years  previous,  nothing 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


275 


appeared  to  have  been  done  to  repair  the  damage.  Every¬ 
thing  in  charge  of  these  monks  seems  to  relapse  and  go  to 
ruin,  and  nothing  to  advance.  Among  the  remaining  trees 
were  olive-trees,  almond-trees  in  blossom,  and  at  least  one 
orange-tree  well  loaded  with  fruit.  A  little  beyond  the 
garden,  by  the  way-side,  as  already  mentioned,  was  a  well, 
with  a  bucket  and  pole.  At  the  old  barracks  of  Abbas 
Pasha’s  soldiery,  near  the  opening  of  Wady  ed  Deir  into 


RAS  SUFSAFEII,  THE  NORTHERN  END  OF  SINAI. 


Wady  er  Pah  ah,  we  measured  the  well  they  had  dug,  and 
found  it  thirty-three  feet  deep,  ten  feet  in  diameter,  and 
containing  nine  feet  of  water.  It  shows  how  water  may  be 
found  in  this  region. 

We  rounded  the  point  at  the  base  of  Pas  Sufsafeh, 
and  paused  to  look  at  a  deep  hollow  in  a  rock  along  the 
way  near  this  spot,  which  a  very  lively  imagination  may 
shape  into  the  mould  of  a  calf’s  head  and  neck,  and  which 
is  accordingly  designated  the  “  Head  of  Aaron’s  Calf.”  The 


276 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


“  Hill  of  Aaron  ”  lies  on  the  opposite  side  of  Wady  ed  Deir. 
Continuing  our  walk  at  the  south  side  of  Has  Sufsafeh,  we 
crossed  a  little  brook  (which  may  have  been  the  “  water  ”  of 
Exodus  xxxii.  20)  and  passed  the  deserted  garden  of  Bus- 
tan,  with  the  ruined  church  of  St.  George  lying  between 
us  and  the  mountain.  The  garden  contained  cypress  and 
other  trees,  watered  by  a  branch  of  the  brook  we  had 
crossed.  On  the  right,  as  we  turned  southward  in  Wady 
Leja,  lay  the  ruined  church  of  the  twelve  apostles,  with  a 
garden  about  it.  Soon  we  passed  another  series  of  enclos¬ 
ures,  which  the  guide  said  had  been  flourishing  gardens, 
until  a  series  of  dry  years  killed  everything.  We  continued 
to  follow  the  brook,  which  we  estimated  ran  ten  barrels  a 
minute,  and  passed  four  other  gardens,  or  orchards,  contain¬ 
ing  almond-trees  in  bloom,  cypress,  olive,  and  other  trees. 
In  one  place  we  saw  a  very  deep  pool  of  water,  twenty  feet 
long.  Next  came  the  “  Rock  of  Moses,”  a  huge  fallen,  de¬ 
tached  mass,  with  ten  slight  horizontal  cracks,  which  looked 
somewhat  as  though  water  might  have  trickled  through 
them,  or  might  now,  if  there  were  any  water  to  run,  or  any 
place  from  which  it  could  run.  Fraas  describes  it  as  “a  fall¬ 
en  granite  block,  with  a  vein  of  porphyry  and  some  druse 
openings.”  Nicholas  did  not  repeat  to  us  the  old  story  that 
there  were  twelve  of  these  openings,  one  for  each  of  the 
twelve  tribes ;  he  probably  observed  us  counting  them,  and 
finding,  as  Robinson  had  done  before,  only  ten.  We  passed, 
also,  two  rocks  with  Sinaitic  inscriptions.  For  three-quar¬ 
ters  of  an  hour  we  followed  up  our  little  stream,  which  was 
at  times  a  roaring  brook,  till  we  reached  Arbain,  or  the  con¬ 
vent  of  the  “forty”  martyrs,  commemorating,  probably,  a 
massacre  of  the  fourth  century.  Here  were  two  large  gar¬ 
dens,  containing  not  less  than  five  hundred  olive-trees,  with 
a  few  apricots  and  almonds,  two  lime-trees,  and  some  others. 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


277 


In  the  lower  garden  the  water  was  running  out  of  a  pool 
about  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and  five  or  six  feet  deep.  In 
both  gardens  there  were  various  reservoirs,  or  wells,  in  which 
we  could  see  the  water  several  feet  below  the  surface.  Cab¬ 
bages,  and  a  few  other  hitchen-lierbs,  were  growing  here. 
The  whole  aspect  was  that  of  neglect  and  desolation ;  but 
so  vigorous  a  growth,  under  circumstances  so  adverse,  was  a 
proof  of  the  real  capacity  of  this  seemingly  desolate  region. 
We  went  into  the  little  church,  which  measured  about  twen¬ 
ty-two  feet  by  sixteen  within,  in  front  of  the  chancel,  and 
was  a  sufficiently  dismal  place.  One  window  only  lighted 
it,  and  that  was  a  hole  entering  diagonally  through  the  roof 
at  the  eaves,  where  the  wall  w7as  several  feet  in  thickness. 
Near  the  church  outside  hung  the  skin  of  a  leopard  recently 
killed.  Here  we  were  first  offered  some  of  the  modern  man¬ 
na,  the  product  of  the  tamarisk  or  tarfa  tree,  packed  in 
small  tin  cases  that  held  three  or  four  ounces,  and  for 
which  the  Arabs  asked  two  francs  each.  It  corresponded 
(o  the  usual  description  of  travellers,  having  a  sweetish 
taste,  and  the  look  of  candied  hone}7.  It  wTas  hard  in  the 
winter,  but  subsequent  warm  weather  liquefied  it,  although 
it  has  kept  perfectly  to  the  present  time.  It  occurred  to 
me,  as  I  purchased  such  a  case,  that  if  the  price  were  the  re¬ 
motest  approximation  even  to  the  value  of  the  labor  in  col¬ 
lecting  it,  such  a  source  of  supply  as  this  would  have  made 
it  rather  costly  living  for  the  Israelites,  at  a  time  when  some 
fourteen  million  homers  (at  least  as  many  pounds)  a  week 
were  required  and  produced  for  weeks,  and  apparently 
years,  together.  The  theory  once  popular,  and  supported 
even  by  the  great  name  of  Ritter,  which  sought  to  find  not 
only  certain  resemblances  but  an  actual  identity,  between 
the  natural  supply  of  this  substance  and  the  manna  which 
fed  Israel  forty  years,  has  been  too  thoroughly  demolished 


278 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


by  a  large  number  of  writers  to  require  further  refutation. 
Even  Knobel,  in  summing  up  the  case,  concludes  thus : 
“  The  narrator  will  thus  certainly  recount  a  miracle,  and 
it  is  useless  pains  to  assimilate  his  statement  to  natural 
history.”  Schubert  mentions  that  the  price  it  brings  in 
Cairo  is  sixty  Spanish  dollars  for  the  moga  (four  and  two- 
thirds  English  pounds),  and  that  the  entire  amount  col¬ 
lected  in  the  peninsula  in  the  most  productive  years  is 
hardly  six  hundred  weight,  and  in  other  years  scarcely  a 
third  of  that  amount.0 


6  Reise,  ii.  347.  All  attempts  to  explain  the  account  of  the  manna  as  the 
narrative  of  a  merely  natural  phenomenon  may  be  considered  as,  in  one  way  or 
another,  effectually  refuted.  Knobel’s  statement  is  the  acknowledgment  of  a 
sharp  scholarly  rationalist.  Winer  was  obliged  to  consider  the  Biblical  narra¬ 
tive  a  distorted  account  of  a  natural  occurrence.  Hengstenberg  and  Keil,  who 
endeavor  to  find  in  the  exudations  of  the  tarfa  a  natural  basis  for  the  transac¬ 
tion,  are  obliged  to  admit  an  intensification  of  the  powers  of  nature.  Kaliscli 
claims  two  kinds,  one  the  tree-manna,  the  other  air-manna.  But  while  there  are 
points  of  resemblance  between  the  manna  of  the  Biblical  narrative  and  that  of 
the  tarfa-tree,  Knobel,  in  his  commentary  on  this  passage,  Kurtz  (History  of  the 
Old  Covenant,  iii.  33,  et  seq.),  and  others,  have  exhaustively  shown,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  numerous  points  of  difference  and  incompatibility.  Accordingly,  the 
great  body  of  sober  travellers  (e.  g.,  Wellsted,  Schubert,  Robinson,  Laborde, 
Stanley,  and  many  others),  together  with  such  expositors  as  Knobel  and  Mur¬ 
phy,  accept  this  incompatibility,  while  the  forced  explanations  of  Keil,  Kalisch, 
and  Lange  tend  to  the  same  result.  Knobel  sums  up  the  points  of  disagree¬ 
ment  thus:  The  manna  (1)  comes  with  the  cloud  and  dew  from  heaven  (Exod. 
xvi.  4,  14 ;  Numb.  xi.  9) ;  (2)  falls  in  such  enormous  quantities  as  to  supply 
every  person  of  the  great  host  with  a  homer  a  day  [the  modern  product,  says 
Stanley,  would  support  but  one  man  six  months]  ;  (3)  yields  every  man  exactly 
what  he  needs,  neither  more  nor  less ;  (4)  falls  only  on  six  days  out  of  seven, 
with  a  double  portion  on  the  sixth ;  (5)  corrupts  when  kept  from  one  work-day 
to  another,  but  keeps  perfectly  over  the  seventh  day ;  (6)  is  ground  in  mills  and 
pounded  in  mortars,  which  cannot  be  done  with  the  modern  manna ;  (7)  is 
boiled,  and  baked  into  cakes,  for  which  the  modern  manna  is  wholly  unsuitable. 
To  which  may  be  added,  it  was  independent  of  particular  localities  and  seasons, 
and  continued  steadily  till  the  fortieth  year ;  also,  that  the  modern  manna,  as 
Schubert  well  remarks,  “  contains  none  of  the  substances  necessary  for  the  daily 
nourishment  of  the  animal  frame,”  being  now  used  only  for  medicinal  pur¬ 
poses.  Stanley  has  given  a  condensed  but  effective  statement  of  the  case,  Si- 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


279 


Sunday ,  February  22 d. — This  morning,  at  eight  o’clock, 
we  went  to  the  church  in  the  convent.  Services  had  been 
going  on  evidently  for  a  considerable  time.  We  witnessed 


GATE  OF  THE  CONVENT  OF  ST.  CATHERINE. 


them  during  the  closing  half-hour.  They  were  conducted, 
of  course,  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Greek  Church.  The 
officiating  persons  wore  their  hair  long,  like  a  woman’s,  and 
hanging  down  behind :  one  young  man,  who  took  a  prom¬ 
inent  part,  in  very  showy  attire,  had  his  hair  as  much  as 


nai,  p.  28.  Lange’s  attempt  to  answer  Knobel’s  sharp  array  of  facts  in  part  by 
assuming  here  a  “  symbolic  language  of  the  theocratic  religion  ”  and  a  “  rich 
ideal  light,”  and  partly  by  the  assumption  of  the  mingling  of  other  (farina- 
cious)  elements  with  the  manna  in  cooking,  supported  by  no  Scriptural  hints 
even,  is-  hardly  worthy  of  such  an  expositor.  See  Lange  on  Exodus  xvi.  The 
transaction  was  clearly  supernatural  in  substance,  although  we  may  freely  ad¬ 
mit  that,  like  some  of  the  miracles  in  Egypt,  it  offered  to  some  extent  a  kind 
of  outward  conformity  to  certain  natural  phenomena  of  the  region. 


2S0 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


twenty  inches  long.  There  were  chantings  and  responses, 
and  some  simultaneous  utterances,  the  whole  pervaded  large¬ 
ly  by  a  strong  nasal  quality,  swinging  of  censers,  proces¬ 
sions,  exhibitions  of  the  cup,  with  crossings  and  bowings; 
many  wax  candles  and  many  lamps  hung  burning  from 
the  ceiling.  The  church  itself  is  highly  decorated,  and  has 
numerous  pictures,  large  and  small,  in  which  St.  Catherine 
bears  a  prominent  part.  Many  of  its  decorations  and  much 
of  its  furniture  were  now  covered. 

After  breakfast  brother  Nicholas  took  us  through  the  con¬ 
vent.  One  of  the  first  objects  was  a  very  deep  well  of 
pure  water,  which  is  the  “Moses’s  Well”  of  the  monks,  the 
place  where  he  watered  Jethro’s  flocks.  We  visited  the 
refectory.  The  table  was  spread  for  twenty-eight  monks. 
The  food,  which  lay  already  on  the  plates,  was  mostly  fish, 
with  green  herbs.  It  was  the  first  Sunday  of  Lent,  but  the 
monks  never  eat  flesh.  By  each  plate  stood  a  tin  cup  of 
what  I  then  supposed  to  be  wine,  but  I  afterward  observed 
the  statement  of  the  books  that  wine  is  strictly  prohibited. 
Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  “  Sinai  arrack,”  which  does 
not  appear  to  be  prohibited,  is  stronger  than  wine.  At¬ 
tached  to  the  wall  of  the  refectory  was  a  desk,  from  which 
during  meal-time  one  monk  reads  to  the  rest,  as  they  devote 
themselves  in  silence  to  their  food. 

We  looked  again  through  the  venerable  church,  which 
dates  probably  from  the  middle  of  the  sixth  or  beginning 
of  the  seventh  century.  It  is  a  basilica,  elaborately  orna¬ 
mented.  The  most  remarkable  object  it  contains  is  a  very 
ancient  mosaic  in  the  chancel,  representing  the  Saviour, 
with  Moses  and  Elijah  pointing  to  him,  John  kneeling  at 
his  feet,  Peter  lying  overcome  upon  the  ground,  and  James 
bending  his  knees,  dazzled  by  the  glory.  Around  them  are 
prophets,  apostles,  and  saints,  each  with  his  name  inscribed 


THE'  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


2S1 


in  Greek.  Here,  too,  are  pictures,  called  those  of  Justinian 
and  Theodora.  But  other  known  representations  of  Justin¬ 
ian  prove  that  this  is  not  a  portrait  of  him.  By  the  altar  is 
a  chest  containing  the  skull  and  hand  of  St.  Catherine,  the 
patron  saint  of  the  convent,  martyred  at  Alexandria,  and 
borne  by  angels  to  the  top  of  Mount  St.  Catherine.  The 
remains  of  the  saint,  however,  are  not  to  be  seen. 

Thence  we  were  ushered  into  the  chapel,  which  is  to  the 
Russian  pilgrims  the  chief  attraction  of  the  place — the  so- 
called  “  Chapel  of  the  Burning  Bush.”  Here  we  of  course 
followed  the  universal  custom  and  requirement,  to  “  put  thy 
shoes  from  off  thy  feet.”  The  alleged  place  where  stood 
the  bush  is  occupied  by  a  large  silver  plate,  covered  with 
carvings  of  various  scenes  in  the  life  of  Moses  and  Elijah. 
Costly  lamps  burned  above,  and  the  blue  ceiling  is  spotted 
with  golden  stars. 

o 

The  library  is  a  small  room,  and  contains  a  collection  of 
books  presenting,  as  a  whole,  a  more  antique  appearance 
than  any  that  I  had  hitherto  seen.  Here  are  about  a  thou¬ 
sand  printed  books,  most  of  them  sufficiently  old,  but  of  no 
special  value,  principally  theological  works,  with  a  few  clas¬ 
sical  authors.  We  saw,  also,  a  large  number  of  manuscripts, 
about  five  hundred,  says  Tischendorf,  chiefly  Greek,  but 
also  Syrian,  Arabic,  Armenian,  Georgian,  Slavonic,  none  of 
them  known  to  be  of  any  special  importance.  They  cer¬ 
tainly  are  of  no  particular  use  ;  no  one  here  reads  them. 
Here,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  once  deposited  the  cele¬ 
brated  Codex  Sinaiticus,  that  barely  escaped  the  flames  to 
which  these  drones  had  abandoned  a  part  of  it,  to  be  now  a 
priceless  accession  to  the  critical  apparatus  of  modern  times. 

When  we  had  seen  the  library,  we  inquired  for  the  arch¬ 
bishop’s  room.  On  arriving  there  we  inquired  for  the  two 
old  manuscripts.  After  some  little  delay  and  seeming  liesi- 


282 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


tation,  during  which,  if  I  rightly  remember,  the  door  was 
locked  behind  us,  a  key  was  produced  from  a  locked  closet, 
a  monk  disappeared  into  an  inner  room,  and  returned  with 
two  manuscripts.  One  of  them  contained  the  four  gospels, 
that  of  John  being  first  in  order.  It  forms  a  bulky  volume, 
with  two  columns  on  a  page,  written  in  a  beautiful  hand, 
almost  as  uniform  as  type,  and  throughout  in  golden  uncial 
letters.  The  title-page  is  illuminated  with  pictures  of  Jesus, 
Mary,  the  four  Evangelists,  and  Peter.  The  monks  claim  it 
to  be  fourteen  hundred  years  old.  A  much  better  author¬ 
ity,  Tischendorf,  refers  it  to  the  eighth  century.  It  is  a 
rarely  beautiful  object.  The  other  manuscript  was  a  copy 
of  the  Psalms,  so  finely  written  that  I  could  not  read  a  let¬ 
ter.  It  has  no  value  except  as  a  curiosity.  But  since  the 
visit  of  Tischendorf,  and  his  famous  discovery,  the  monks 
are  as  excessively  careful  as  they  were  once  careless  of  these 
manuscript  treasures. 

When  we  had  seen  the  chief  attractions  inside  the  con¬ 
vent,  Nicholas  took  us  to  the  garden  and  into  the  charnel- 
house  of  the  convent,  where  the  former  generations  of  re¬ 
ligious  idlers  had  entered  into  still  closer  quarters  and  more 
conspicuous  inactivity.  With  a  word  of  preparation  for 
our  olfactory  nerves  (“lie  got  no  good  smell  here”)  Nich¬ 
olas  led  us  down  a  stone  staircase  through  a  small  ante- 
chamber,  and  thence  into  the  presence  of  some  thirty  thou¬ 
sand  skeletons,  dried,  dismembered,  au.d  packed  away  in 
the  snuggest  compass,  like  so  many  portions  of  old  machin¬ 
ery  taken  to  pieces  and  stacked  away.  It  was  purely  a 
business  operation.  There  was  nothing  about  it  of  the  ar¬ 
tistic  qualities  of  the  Church  of  St.  Ursula  at  Cologne,  or 
the  Capuchin  Convent  at  Pome,  where  patellas  effloresced 
into  roses,  and  femurs  and  tibias  in  good  sentences  called 
out,  “ Ora  pro  nobis.”  The  spectator,  looking  at  these  eco- 


THE  REGION  OF  THE  LAW-GIVING. 


283 


nomically-stored  relics  of  mortality,  lias  nothing  to  prevent 
him  from  estimating  in  the  purely  mathematical  method. 
The  first  room  contains  many  cords  of  the  leg  and  arm 
bones,  and  great  stacks  of  the  skulls  of  dead  monks.  An 
adjoining  room  contains  remains  of  the  elite  of  the  con¬ 
vent.  Here  were  fifteen  boxes  of  bishops,  a  pile  of  dis¬ 
membered  priests  measuring  about  fifteen  feet  by  twelve 
by  four,  not  including  the  skulls,  which  were  piled  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room.  Two  Indian  princes  were  honored 
by  being  not  only  left  whole,  but  bound  together  by  the 
iron  chain  that  united  them  in  life.  One  of  them  was  still 
allowed  a  piece  of  his  iron  coat,  more  than  he  needed  now. 
Iron  neckbands  and  waistbands,  scourges,  and  other  choice 
ornaments  hung  on  a  post;  and  a  famous  old  janitor,  Ste¬ 
phen,  who  died  three  hundred  or  thirteen  hundred  years 
ago — for  accounts  differ,  but  it  makes  little  difference  to 
him — still  sits  in  his  robes  and  blue  velvet  cap,  and  grimly 
keeps  watch  near  the  door.  The  whole  place  is  ghastly, 
but  not  solemn. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  by  myself  down  Wady  ed  Deir 
and  up  the  plain  of  Er  Rahah  to  the  water-shed.  The  air 
was  so  clear  that  objects  a  mile  distant  seemed  quite  close 
at  hand.  This  noble  plain,  over  two  miles  long  and  half  a 
mile  wide,  is  almost  perfectly  smooth  in  its  whole  extent, 
with  scattered  tufts  of  desert  herbage  only;  and  it  would 
be  as  difficult  to  find  here  a  place  that  was  unfit  for  a 
camp  as  in  Sebaiyeli  to  find  a  spot  that  was  fit.  There 
could  hardly  be  a  more  magnificent  area  for  the  purpose 
recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  all  in  full  sight  of  and  close 
contact  with  the  sharply-defined  and  isolated  peak  at  its 
foot,  while  surrounded  by  all  facilities  for  pasturage  and 
water-supply.  It  was  an  easy  thing  to  surrender  the  mind 
and  heart  to  all  the  historic  associations  of  the  ancient 


284 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


scene.  On  my  way  I  saw  a  young  Arab  driving  live 
asses  to  water.  They  were  in  admirable  condition,  and 
bore  emphatic  testimony  to  the  fattening  facilities  of  the 
heart  of  the  desert.  An  Arab  girl  mumbled  something  to 
me  as  she  passed  along,  and  hurried  away. 

Monday ,  February ,  23 d. — We  rose  at  six,  and  succeed¬ 
ed  with  difficulty  in  starting  at  twenty  minutes  after  eight. 
There  was  long  confusion,  loud  and  violent  talking  among 
the  new  Arabs,  loading,  unloading,  and  refusals  to  load, 
which  our  dragoman  and  his  stout  servant  Ibrahim  settled 
by  peremptory  and  forcible  measures  - —  a  push  here,  a  pull 
there,  a  sharp  word  all  round,  and  finally  by  adjusting  the 
burdens  and  doing  much  of  the  work  with  their  own  hands. 
But  the  dragoman’s  greatest  grief  was  when  lie  paid  the 
exorbitant  charges  of  the  convent.  lie  consoled  himself 
by  making  known  his  sorrows  to  us,  and  asking  for  an  ad¬ 
ditional  payment,  anticipating  the  stipulations  of  the  con¬ 
tract.  We  were  glad  to  comfort  him  thus.  We  parted 
company  with  these  cloistered  worthies,  carrying  very  little 
respect  for  them  or  their  doings,  except  for  the  good-nat¬ 
ured  lay-brother,  Nicholas,  who  had  guided  us  around  the 
convent  and  the  mountain,  and  for  the  convent  cobbler  who 
had  mended  our  shoes,  sadly  dilapidated  by  mountain  climb- 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ESCAPEMENT. 


285 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT. 

From  Sinai  we  set  out  to  see  the  region  lying  eastward, 
and  more  particularly  the  place  where  Mr.  Palmer  sup¬ 
posed  that  he  had  found  Kibroth-Hattaavah.  There  are  so 
few  data  for  determining  the  exact  and  entire  course  of 

CD 

the  Israelites  after  leaving  Sinai,  and  so  little  prospect  of 
being  able  to  add  anything  to  what  is  already  known  or 
conjectured,  without  more  time  and  means  than  were  at 
my  disposal,  that  I  preferred  to  turn  my  attention  chiefly 
in  other  directions. 

Proceeding  northward  from  the  convent  down  Wady  ed 
Deir,  we  turned  to  the  right  into  Wady  es  Sheikh,  which 
we  found,  wherever  it  was  not  swept  by  occasional  torrents, 
to  be  level  and  well  sprinkled  with  shrubs.  In  about  an 
hour  we  passed  the  mouth  of  Wady  Sebaiyeh,  where  wTe 
saw  a  large  flock  of  goats.  In  another  hour  we  turned 
from  Wady  es  Sheikh  into  Wady  Mukhalifeh.  Here  was 
a  large  amount  of  herbage,  and  a  still  more  abundant  veg¬ 
etation  just  springing  from  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The 
dragoman,  in  reply  to  my  inquiry,  said  that  cattle  will  eat 
all  these  herbs,  and  thrive  on  them.  At  half -past  elev¬ 
en  we  left  Wady  Mukhalifeh,  and  crossed  Wady  Hukfh. 
It  extended,  apparently,  two  miles  or  more  to  the  right, 
and  three  miles  to  the  left,  and  required  half  an  hour  to 
cross  it.  The  whole  extent  was  covered  with  scattered  ves;- 
etation,  and  the  Arabs  said  there  was  a  spring  at  the  foot 


286 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


of  the  mountain,  southward.  One  of  our  number,  who  had 
been  brought  up  on  a  farm,  estimated  that  this  valley  would 
pasture  a  thousand  cattle  three  months. 

An  ascent  of  live  minutes  brought  us  to  Wady  Harei- 
neli,  from  which  in  ten  minutes  wTe  entered  Wady  Milleh, 
where  was  considerable  vegetation.  After  travelling  twen¬ 
ty-six  minutes  in  this  wady,  and  forty-live  in  Wady  Areb, 
we  came  to  Wady  Zuggerah,  near  where  Wad}’  Regaita 
enters  it  from  the  north.  As  the  latter  is  the  valley  in  the 

c I 

neighborhood  of  which  Mr.  Holland  and  Mr.  Palmer  dis- 
covered  ancient  copper-mines  and  traces  of  smelting,  we 
spent  a  little  time  in  looking  around.  In  two  places  wre 
found  indications  of  long-continued  fires,  namely,  an  amount 
of  alkaline  earth  that  must  have  come  from  the  consump¬ 
tion  of  great  quantities  of  wood,  and  that,  too,  in  a  region 
now  almost  destitute  of  trees.  Indeed,  we  saw  less  than  a 
dozen  trees  during  the  whole  day.  We  passed  one  small 
cluster  of  acacias,  and  afterward,  toward  night,  some  retem- 
buslies  and  a  few  ghurkhuds. 

The  mining  excavations  we  did  not  hunt  up.  The  Arabs 
could  give  us  no  information  or  aid  whatever.  We  indeed 
climbed  several  of  the  neighboring  heights,  but  thought  it 
not  expedient  to  prolong  our  stay  for  the  purpose  of  find¬ 
ing  places  that  had  been  sufficiently  described  by  Mr.  Palm¬ 
er.  aA  large  dike  runs  through  the  granite  along  the 
top  of  a  low  ridge  of  hills,  and  contains  thin  veins  of  the 
metal  in  a  very  pure  form.  The  grain  of  the  rock  itself 
also  contains  a  considerable  quantity  of  the  ore  in  minute 
particles,  but  the  miners  appear  to  have  been  ignorant  of 
any  method  for  crushing  the  stone,  and  to  have  contented 
themselves  with  picking  out  the  thin  layers  of  sulphate  of 
copper  from  the  dike.  At  the  end  of  the  ledge  the  ore  has 
been  worked  out  in  a  small  cave ;  and  in  one  place,  where 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT. 


I 


the  vein  takes  a  dip,  a  shaft  has  been  sunk  to  a  considera¬ 
ble  depth.  The  neighboring  hills  are  covered  with  path¬ 
ways  in  every  direction ;  and  numerous  remains  of  smelt¬ 
ing-furnaces,  which  may  still  be  seen,  show  that  mining 
operations  were  once  carried  on  upon  a  very  large  scale  in 
the  vicinity.”1  Mr.  Holland  describes,  apparently,  another 
mine,  a  little  farther  west,  when  he  says,  “  The  largest 
workings  of  copper  I  discovered  in  the  granite  near  Wady 
Senned,  about  eight  miles  north-east  of  Jebel  Musa.  Here 
a  vein  of  ore,  which  crops  up  to  the  surface,  has  been 
worked  almost  continuously  for  a  distance  of  nearly  two 
miles.”  lie  adds,  “  I  have  found  traces  of  the  smelting  of 
copper  in  Wady  Shellal,  Wady  Nusb,  Wady  Maghara, 
Wady  Senned,  and  on  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba, 
about  three  miles  north  of  Sherm.  Iron-ore  was  perhaps 
worked  at  Jebel  IJadid  (the  £  Iron  Mountain’),  about  ten 
miles  south-east  of  Jebel  Musa.  In  Wady  Gharandel,  also, 
the  slag  from  copper-smelting  works  has  been  found.”2 

In  Wady  Zuggerali  we  passed  a  large  quantity  of  small 
white  flowers,  all  of  the  same  species.  Both  flower  and 
plant  were  favorite  morsels  for  the  camels,  which  continu¬ 
ally  dropped  their  heads  to  catch  a  mouthful  as  they  plod¬ 
ded  on.  Numerous  caper -plants  hung  out  their  bright 
green  leaves  from  the  rocks.  Along  most  of  the  way  in 
this  wady  the  cliffs,  sometimes  a  thousand  feet  high,  shut 
down  upon  the  valley  bottom  as  sharply  as  the  wall  of  a 
house  meets  the  floor.  The  valley  or  ravine  twisted  this 
way  and  that,  now  thrusting  out  bold  promontories  of  rock 
over  our  heads,  now  shutting  us  in  with  prodigious  vertical 
walls,  offering  everywhere  bare  rugged  slopes  of  inaccessible 


1  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  256. 

2  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  pp.  423,  424. 


288 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


steepness,  and  often  cutting  off  all  sight  of  our  path  before 
and  behind,  except  for  the  shortest  distances.  The  scenery 
was  in  its  kind  as  wildly  magnificent  as  any  we  had  seen ; 
and  as  the  sun  early  disappeared  behind  these  impregnable 
barriers,  the  sense  of  gloom  and  isolation  came  over  us,  till 
we  caught  ourselves  almost  ready  to  ask  whether  we  had 
friends  anywhere  that  thought  of  or  cared  for  us,  and,  in¬ 
deed,  whether  there  were  any  outside  world  at  all.  This 
sense  of  utter  loneliness,  which  was  subsequently  many 
times  repeated,  was  deepened  when  we  reached  our  tents, 
nestled  solitarily  under  a  rock  wall,  and  found  the  Arabs 
in  a  state  of  entire  ignorance  and  confusion  as  to  the  dis- 
tance  of  our  place  of  destination.  The  sheikh  and  his 
councillors  informed  us  that  it  was  still  a  day  and  a  half 
to  the  place  called  Erweis  el  Ebeirig.  I  told  them  I  knew 
it  was  not.  They  finally  concluded  that,  by  an  early  start 
and  a  change  of  route,  we  might  get  through  in  a  day.  It 
proved  to  be  about  six  hours.  We  told  them  to  be  ready 
for  the  early  start. 

Tuesday ,  February  2 3d, — After  an  immense  amount  of 
Arab  shouting,  screaming,  running,  and  dawdling,  we  got 
off  at  7.45,  only  fifteen  minutes  later  than  the  time  ap¬ 
pointed.  We  moved  at  first  south-easterly,  entering  Wady 
Gefira  in  fifteen  minutes.  Here  the  Arabs  said  that  water 
could  be  found  two  hours  south.  I  saw  one  acacia.  On 
the  side  of  the  valley  was  a  flock  of  sheep  and  goats,  the 
latter  climbing  high  up  the  seemingly  barren  rocks,  and 
eating  busily  where,  at  our  distance,  we  could  see  no  sign 
of  vegetation.  It  was  but  one  instance  of  what  we  ob¬ 
served  afterward  repeatedly. 

We  soon  passed  the  mouth  of  Wady  Senned,  which  is 
apparently  distinct  from  Mr.  Holland’s  valley  of  the  same 
name;  and  in  forty  minutes  from  the  time  of  starting  we 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT. 


289 


entered  Wady  Khlaif,  and  turned  almost  due  north,  a  course 
we  continued  to  follow.  At  this  point  the  most  noteworthy 
object  was  a  bird  singing  much  like  an  American  robin. 
The  route  here  ascended  rapidly  for  ten  minutes,  and  then 
descended  into  Wady  Gebat.  Here  the  dikes  along  the 
mountain  ranges  became  singularly  numerous  and  conspic¬ 
uous,  and  the  contrast  between  the  clay-colored  wady  and 
the  reddish  mountains  was  even  more  noticeable  than  usual. 
At  9.15  we  crossed  a  large  wady  (Batourah  or  Matourah) 
containing  a  few  acacias,  and  began  again  to  ascend,  pass¬ 
ing  a  group  of  eight  acacias  at  the  beginning  of  the  ac¬ 
clivity.  The  steady  ascent  continued  for  about  an  hour, 
culminating  in  a  very  severe  pass  of  ten  minutes  (Nugb 
Gebat),  and  was  followed  by  a  still  more  rugged  descent  of 
five  minutes  on  the  other  side.  Still  another  ascent  and 
descent  brought  us  to  a  place  where  were  scattered  at  in¬ 
tervals  a  few  acacias,  ghurkliuds,  and  retems,  from  which  we 
could  see  Wady  Sa‘al.  It  appeared  finely  at  a  distance, 
apparently  a  mile  in  breadth,  and  covered  with  numerous 
acacias  and  very  considerable  vegetation.  Its  aspect  was 
in  marked  and  pleasant  contrast  to  the  general  barrenness 
of  the  region  through  which  we  had  travelled  nearly  all  the 
morning.  At  12.40  we  reached  this  great  wady,  which  runs 
nearly  east  and  west. 

Here  we  had  no  little  difficulty  in  learning  the  direction 
of  the  place  of  which  we  were  in  search.  At  length  we 
set  off  under  the  guidance  of  the  noisiest  and  most  disa¬ 
greeable  Arab  in  the  company,  soon  leaving  Wady  Sa‘al, 
and  proceeding  in  a  south-easterly  direction.  We  first  rose 
upon  a  considerable  ridge  running  north  and  south,  near 
the  summit  of  which  was  a  small  hillock  marked  by  a  con- 
spicuous  stone-heap,  and  then  made  an  abrupt  descent  over 
a  rough  ledge  into  a  very  singular  plain.  It  was  shut  in 

19 


290 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


by  high  perpendicular  cliffs,  the  sides  of  which  were  eaten 
away  into  curious  figures  that  looked  almost  like  artificial 
work,  while  here  and  there  an  island  of  rock  with  similar 
vertical  sides  stood  out  in  the  midst  of  the  plain.  Near  the 
entrance  were  Sinaitic  inscriptions.  The  plain  was  nearly 
a  mile  wide,  and  extended  toward  the  south-east  much  far¬ 
ther  than  we  explored  it.  Soon  after  entering  we  inquired 
for  the  stone  circles  which  Mr.  Palmer  describes.  But  the 
Arabs  knew  nothing  of  them,  and  gave  us  over  and  over 
the  same  answer  which  W.  II.  Bartlett  received  when  he 
inquired  for  the  carvings  in  Wady  Maghara,  which  were 
almost  over  his  head,  “  Ma  fish”  (there  are  none).  Our 
chattering  old  guide  sat  down,  and  went  no  farther.  We 
pushed  on  twenty  minutes  more,  and  were  rewarded  for  our 
pains.  We  found  at  first  several  circular  enclosures  of 
large  stones  lying  firmly  in  the  earth,  and  portions  of  other 
circles  that  were  more  or  less  broken  up.  In  one  especially, 
that  was  composed  of  flat  granite  fragments  of  considerable 
size,  the  sides  of  many  of  the  stones  seemed  to  have  been 
hollowed  out  by  time  with  some  uniformity  of  direction. 
These  were  in  a  higher  part  of  the  plain,  near  the  cliffs, 
where  the  covering  of  sand  was  less  and  the  exposure  to 
winter  streams  greater.  Farther  on  we  found  many  others 
similarly  situated  ;  and  on  the  open  plain,  where  there  were 
slight  elevations  of  surface,  the  enclosures  were  very  numer¬ 
ous,  though  often  indistinct,  time  and  the  torrents  having 
introduced  some  confusion  among  them.  In  crossing  parts 
of  the  plain  now  covered  with  sand,  we  could  discern  the 
tops  of  the  stones  projecting  through.  Many  of  the  enclos¬ 
ures  were  not  more  than  two  feet  in  diameter,  as  though  for 
a  fire,  and  in  two  of  those  which  we  examined  we  found 
charcoal  beneath  the  stones  in  the  centre.  Others  were  four 
or  five  feet  in  diameter,  still  others  as  much  as  twelve  feet. 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT. 


291 


Some  of  them  were  long  and  narrow.  We  examined  only 
a  region  of  perhaps  half  a  mile  square,  but  here  they  must 
have  been  originally  very  numerous.  Mr.  Palmer  says  the)7 
are  found  for  miles  around,  and  describes  them  as  situated 
mostly  on  higher  ground.  His  fuller  account  and  theory 
are  as  follows : 

“  A  little  farther  on,  and  upon  the  water-shed  of  Wady 
Hebeibeh,  we  came  to  some  remains  which,  although  they 
had  hitherto  escaped  even  a  passing  notice  from  previous 
travellers,  proved  to  be  among  the  most  interesting  in  the 
country.  The  piece  of  elevated  ground  which  forms  this 
water-shed  is  called  by  the  Arabs  Erweis  el  Ebeirig,  and  is 
covered  with  small  enclosures  of  stones.  These  are  evident¬ 
ly  the  remains  of  a  large  encampment,  but  they  differ  essen¬ 
tially  in  their  arrangement  from  any  others  which  I  have 
seen  in  Sinai  or  elsewhere  in  Arabia;  and  on  the  summit  of 
a  small  hill  on  the  right  is  an  erection  of  stones,  surmounted 
by  a  conspicuous  white  block  of  pyramidal  shape.  The  re¬ 
mains  extend  for  miles  around ;  and  on  examining  them 
more  carefully  during  a  second  visit  to  the  peninsula  with 
Mr.  Drake,  we  found  our  first  impression  fully  confirmed, 
and  collected  abundant  proof  that  this  was  in  reality  a  de¬ 
serted  camp.  The  small  stones  which  formerly  served,  as 
they  do  in  the  present  day,  for  hearths,  in  many  places  still 
showed  the  action  of  fire ;  and  on  digging  beneath  the  sur¬ 
face  we  found  charcoal  in  great  abundance.  Here  and 
there  were  larger  enclosures,  marking  the  encampment  of 
some  person  more  important  than  the  rest,  and  just  outside 
the  camp  were  a  number  of  stone-heaps  which,  from  their 
shape  and  position,  could  be  nothing  else  but  graves.  The 
site  is  a  most  commanding  one,  and  is  admirably  suited  for 
the  assembling  of  a  large  concourse  of  people.  Arab  tradi¬ 
tion  declares  these  curious  remains  to  be  4  the  relics  of  a 


292 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


large  pilgrim  or  Hajj  caravan,  who  in  remote  ages  pitched 
their  tents  at  this  spot  on  their  way  to  Ain  Iludherah,  and 
who  soon  afterward  were  lost  in  the  Desert  of  the  Till,  and 
never  heard  of  again.’  ” 

His  belief  is  that  these  enclosures  mark  the  encampment 
of  Israel,  “exactly  a  day’s  journey  from  Ain  Iludherah” 
(supposed  by  very  many  to  be  Ilazeroth),  and  that  the 
graves  outside  the  camp  are  the  graves  of  lust  at  Kibroth- 
ITattaavah  (Numb.  xi.  33-35).  His  reasons  it  is  proper  to 
give  in  his  own  words  :  “  First,  they  are  said  to  have  taliu — 

‘  lost  their  way,’  the  Arabic  verb  from  which  the  name  Tih, 
or  £  the  Wilderness  of  the  Wanderings,’  is  derived.  Second¬ 
ly,  they  are  described  as  a  Hajj  caravan.  At  the  first 
glance  this  would  seem  an  anachronism,  as  the  word  is  em¬ 
ployed  exclusively  by  the  Muslims,  and  applied  to  their  own 
annual  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  But  this  very  term  owes  its 
origin  to  the  Hebrew  Hagg ,  which  signifies  ‘a  festival,’  and 
is  the  identical  word  used  in  Exodus  (x.  9)  to  express  the 
ceremony  which  the  children  of  Israel  alleged  as  their  rea¬ 
son  for  wishing  to  leave  Egypt,  namely,  ‘  to  hold  a  feast 
unto  the  Lord  ’  in  the  wilderness.  It  could  not  apply  to  the 
Mohammedan  Hajj  caravan,  for  that  has  never  passed  this 
way,  and  would  not  under  any  circumstances  find  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  go  to  Ain  Iludherah.  But  the  children  of  Israel 
did  journey  to  Ilazeroth,  and  the  tradition  is  therefore  valu¬ 
able  in  determining  the  latter  site,  as  well  as  their  subse¬ 
quent  route  on  leaving  the  peninsula.  The  length  of  time 
which  has  elapsed  since  the  events  of  the  Exodus  furnishes 
no  argument  against  the  probability  of  this  conclusion,  for 
there  are  other  monuments  in  the  countrv  in  even  better 

c / 

preservation,  and  of  a  date  indisputably  far  anterior.  It  is 
a  curious  fact,  that  if  you  ask  twenty  Arabs  to  relate  to  you 
one  of  their  national  legends,  they  will  all  do  so  in  precise- 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT 


293 


ly  the  same  words,  showing  with  what  wonderful  precision 
oral  tradition  is  handed  down  from  generation  to  gener¬ 
ation  among  them.”3 

These  suggestions  certainly  deserve  most  respectful  con¬ 
sideration,  and  the  locality  should  be  protractedly  and  thor¬ 
oughly  examined  by  some  party  that  has  plenty  of  time  and 
means  to  do  it  maturely.  Our  examination  was  necessarily 
much  more  hasty  than  that  of  Palmer  and  Drake,  who  twice 
visited  the  place,  the  second  time  aided  b}7  discoveries  made 
and  the  conjectures  awakened  on  the  first  visit.  We  passed 
the  same  “  small  hill  on  the  right,”  with  its  “  erection  of 
rough  stones.”  The  enclosures  which  we  examined,  howev¬ 
er,  were  not  those  upon  the  high  ground,  but  in  a  valley  or 
plain  below,  where  the  completeness  of  the  arrangement  was 
less  obvious  on  account  of  the  silting  in  of  sand  in  some 
places  and  the  probable  effect  of  winter  streams  in  others. 
Accepting  fully  all  their  observations  of  fact,  their  con¬ 
clusion  must  probably  await  further  inquiries.  The  older 
Egyptian  remains  prove  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  diffi¬ 
culty  arising  from  the  great  lapse  of  time.  The  simple 
question  is  one  of  sufficient  identification. 

Now  the  coincidence  of  the  name  “  ITajj  ”  with  the  He¬ 
brew  hagg  (festival)  of  Exodus  x.  9,  shows  only  the  common 
origin  of  the  words  from  the  same  Semitic  root.  In  the 
use  of  a  term  so  perfectly  familiar  to  the  Muslims,  even 
though  loosely  employed  in  this  instance,  we  cannot  for  a 
moment  claim  any  connection  with  the  specific  transaction 
recorded  in  Exodus.  It  is  simply  a  necessity  or  law  of  lan¬ 
guage  :  two  kindred  tongues  employing  the  same  word, 
common  to  both,  to  designate  similar  facts.  The  supposed 
“graves”  require  to  be  explored  in  order  to  know  that  their 


3  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  pp.  25,  27,  et  seq. 


294 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


use  was  rightly  conjectured;  and  if  found  to  be  graves,  they 
might  not  be  assumed  to  be  graves  of  Israelites  without 
some  further  indications. 

We  might  not  look  for  any  kind  of  inscriptions,  inasmuch 
as  both  the  views  and  practice  of  the  Israelites  seem  to  have 
been  averse  to  such  records.  But  it  is  not  altogether  im¬ 
probable  that  a  series  of  works  so  extensive  should  some¬ 
where  contain  some  small  relics  accidentally  or  intentionally 
left  behind,  or  some  slight  but  distinctive  marks  of  the  na¬ 
tionality  of  the  builders.  If  even  the  Indian  scatters  his 
arrow-heads  and  spear-points,  we  cannot  safely  assume  that 
one  or  two  millions  of  people,  possessing  so  many  of  the  ap¬ 
pliances  of  art  and  civilization  as  did  the  Israelites,  would 
even  on  their  march  spend  “a  whole  month”  (Numb.  xi.  20) 
in  one  place,  and  leave  absolutely  no  distinctive  traces  of 
their  presence.  It  impressed  me  most  forcibly,  as  I  stood 
in  this  lonely  and  barren  region,  how  singular  it  was  that 
such  extensive,  and  in  their  way  elaborate,  structures  should 
have  been  made  here.  In  the  locality  which  I  exam¬ 
ined,  the  stones  must  have  been  gathered,  transported,  and 
arranged  with  an  amount  of  labor  which  would  imply 
more  than  a  merely  transient  occupancy.  Their  wide 
extent  and  great  numbers  would  almost  as  certainly  im¬ 
ply  a  large  number  of  persons;  for  successive  smaller  com¬ 
panies,  in  passing  over  the  same  region,  would  have  had 
no  occasion  to  construct  new  enclosures  of  the  same  kind 
in  the  same  vicinity  when  they  could  simply  use  those  al¬ 
ready  made. 

As  the  children  of  Israel  are  generally  supposed  to  have 
journeyed  from  Sinai  by  the  great  valley  Wady  Sa‘al,  and 
as  this  place  is  a  day’s  journey  from  Ain  Hudherah,  some¬ 
what  commonly  accepted  as  Hazeroth,  both  these  circum¬ 
stances  favor  the  theory  in  question.  The  most  plausible 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT. 


295 


rival  theory  would  be  that,  as  these  works  are  very  nearly  on 
the  direct  way  from  Sinai  to  Akaba,  they  may  have  been 
constructed  by  the  same  Nabathseans  who  have  so  abun¬ 
dantly  left  their  “  Sinaitic  inscriptions  ”  among  the  moun¬ 
tains  where,  as  some  suppose,  they  held  their  “  festivals,” 
and  whose  marks,  indeed,  I  saw  at  this  place  on  the  rocks 
near  the  water-shed  from  which  we  descended  into  the  low¬ 
er  plain.  An  obvious  objection  to  this  view,  however,  is  the 
number  of  people  implied  by  structures  that  “  extend  for 
miles  around,”  so  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  extent  of  the 
inscriptions  at  any  one  place  among  the  mountains.  And 
if  we  should  accept  the  supposition  that  this  people  resorted 
to  the  mountains  to  hold  festivals,  secular  or  religious,  this 
view  would  fail  to  account  for  the  vast  number  of  stone  cir¬ 
cles  at  this  point,  or  indeed  anywhere. 

It  may  be  fairly  said  for  Mr.  Palmer’s  view  that,  besides 
some  aspect  of  support  from  the  tradition  which  he  cites,  it 
would  also  better  account  for  the  actual  phenomenon  in  the 
case  than  any  other  that  we  can  advance,  or  any  facts  that 
we  know.  It  has  something  in  its  favor,  and  nothing  really 
to  compete  with  it.  Still,  in  our  absolute  ignorance,  what 
other  transactions  may  have  taken  place  here  in  the  ages 
past,  it  is  needful  to  be  cautious.  We  cannot  safely  assume 
the  absence  of  any  other  mode  of  accounting  for  these 
structures.  And  as  the  Israelites  seem  to  have  abode  for 
a  month  at  Kibroth  -Ilattaavah,  it  is  reasonable  that  we 
should  look  for  something  of  the  nature  of  decisive  fact , 
however  slight,  to  form  a  connection  between  this  locality 
and  their  encampment,  before  raising  this  conjecture  into  a 
positive  belief.  It  certainly  would  strike  one  as  singular, 
that  while  small  colonies  of  Egyptian  miners  who  lived  here 
long  before  their  day  should  have  left  records,  some  imple¬ 
ments,  and  numerous  other  remains,  and  while  companies 


296 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


of  wandering  Idumseans  long  after  them,  should  have  made 
inscriptions  so  conspicuous  and  wide-spread,  yet  a  great  com¬ 
pany  of  two  millions  of  Hebrews  should  have  spent  a  year 
on  this  peninsula  and  not  left  one  written  letter,  nor  one  lost 
tool  or  trinket,  to  be  found.  The  long  occupancy  by  the 
monks  at  such  places  as  the  region  of  Serbal  and  Sinai 
would  account  for  the  obliteration  of  any  slight  traces  of 
them  there.  But  in  an  uninhabited  region  like  this  of  Er- 
weis  el  Ebeirig  there  should  be  found,  it  may  not  unreason¬ 
ably  be  supposed,  somewhere  in  the  wide  range  covered  by 
the  ancient  structures,  some  indication  of  the  character  of 
the  occupants. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  the  place 
that  two  travellers  have  mentioned  seeing  immense  flights 
of  birds  near  this  spot.  Stanley  writes  that  “  in  the  even¬ 
ing  and  morning  of  our  encampment  immediately  before 
reaching  Wady  Hudherah,  the  sky  was  literally  darkened 
by  the  flight  of  innumerable  birds,  which  proved  to  be  the 
same  large  red-legged  cranes,  three  feet  high,  with  black- 
and  -  white  wings,  measuring  seven  feet  from  tip  to  tip, 
which  we  had  seen  in  like  numbers  at  the  first  cataract  of 
the  Kile.4  It  was  very  near  this  place  that  Schubert  writes:5 
“  Whole  clouds  of  birds  of  passage,  of  such  extent  and  thick¬ 
ness  as  I  never  saw  before,  flew  in  the  distance  and  over 
us.”  lie  does  not  specify  their  kind ;  but  the  fact  of  such 
immense  numbers  of  birds  being  guided  across  this  place, 
probably  by  the  relative  situation  of  the  region  and  the  cur¬ 
rents  of  wind,  furnishes  a  noteworthy  coincidence  with  the 
Scripture  narrative  of  the  vast  body  of  quails  which  flew 
over  the  camp  at  Kibroth-Hattaavah.  Mr.  Drew  also  men¬ 
tions  in  his  journal  (April  4th)  that  at  a  point  just  north  of 


4  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  82. 


5  Schubert,  Reise,  ii.  360. 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT 


297 


the  Tih  (not  definitely  specified)  lie  “  saw  a  flight  of  birds 
thousands  in  number.”6 

Dean  Stanley,  indeed,  half  suggests  the  identification  of 
the  cranes  (or  white  storks)  which  he  saw  with  the  quail 
(selav)  of  the  Scriptures.  But  there  is  no  good  ground  and 
no  occasion  for  such  an  identification.  The  flesh  of  the 
crane  is  unfit  for  food.  The  quail  is  still  found,  at  certain 
seasons,  abundantly  in  the  peninsula,  and  its  Arabic  name 
corresponds  precisely  to  the  Hebrew.  There  is  also  a  sin¬ 
gular  correspondence  between  the  habits  of  the  bird  and 
the  facts  recorded  in  Numbers.  According  to  the  Yu  Date 
rendering  (Numb.  xi.  31),  which  is  supported  by  Philo  and 
Jonathan,  and  in  modern  times  by  Knobel,  the  “  Speaker’s 
Commentary,”  and  others,  the  quails  flew  about  two  cubits 
above  the  ground.  If  this  rendering  be  accepted,  the  first 
coincidence,  as  given  by  Tristram,7  is  the  fact  that  at  all 
times  its  flight  is  very  low,  just  skimming  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and,  especially  when  fatigued,  it  keeps  close,  never 
soaring  like  the  partridge  and  sand-grouse — a  fact  mention¬ 
ed  by  Pliny  (x.  23).  Further,  “it  migrates  in  vast  flocks;” 
it  “  flies  mostly  at  night ;”  the  flocks  fly  in  spring  and  au¬ 
tumn  ;  they  proceed  with  the  wind,  never  facing  it ;  when 
they  settle,  “they  are  so  utterly  exhausted  that  they  may 
be  captured  in  any  numbers  by  the  hand.”  Mr.  Tristram’s 
further  statements  form  so  remarkable  a  comment  upon  the 
Scripture  narrative  that  I  give  it  in  detail. 

The  quail  “  migrates  in  vast  flocks,  and  regularly  crosses 
the  Arabian  desert,  flying  for  the  most  part  by  night.  Be¬ 
ing  birds  of  weak  flight,  they  instinctively  select  the  short¬ 
est  sea-passages,  and  avail  themselves  of  every  island  as  a 


6  G.  S.  Drew’s  Examination  of  the  Pentateuch,  p.  66. 

7  Tristram’s  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  pp.  231-233. 


298 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


halting-place.  Thus,  in  spring  and  autumn,  they  are  slaugh¬ 
tered  on  Malta  and  many  of  the  Greek  islands,  which 
they  cpiit  in  a  day  or  two.  The  period  when  they  were 
brought  to  the  camp  of  Israel  was  in  spring,  when  on  their 
northward  migration  from  Africa.  According  to  their  well- 
known  instinct,  they  would  follow  up  the  coast  of  the  Red 
Sea  till  they  came  to  its  bifurcation  by  the  Sinaitic  penin¬ 
sula,  and  then,  with  a  favoring  wind,  would  cross  at  the  nar¬ 
row  part,  resting  near  the  shore  before  proceeding.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  we  read  that  the  wind  brought  them  up  from 
the  sea,  and  that,  keeping  close  to  the  ground,  they  fell 
thick  as  rain  about  the  camp  in  the  month  of  April,  accord¬ 
ing  to  our  calculation.  Thus  the  miracle  consisted  in  the 
supply  being  brought  to  the  tents  of  Israel  by  the  special 
guidance  of  the  Lord  in  exact  harmony  with  the  known 
habits  of  the  bird.  The  Israelites  ‘spread  them  out,’  when 
they  had  taken  them  before  they  were  sufficiently  refreshed 
to  escape,  ‘  round  about  the  camp,’  to  dry  them  and  pre¬ 
pare  them  for  food,  exactly  as  Herodotus  tells  us  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  were  in  the  habit  of  doing,  drying  them  in  the  sun. 
Again,  it  was  at  even  that  they  began  to  arrive,  and  by  the 
morning  the  whole  flock  had  settled.  Thus  throughout  the 
Mediterranean  the  cpiails  arrive  at  night.  I  have  myself 
seen  the  ground  in  Algeria,  in  the  month  of  April,  covered 
with  quails  for  an  extent  of  many  acres  at  daybreak,  where 
in  the  preceding  afternoon  there  had  not  been  one.  They 
were  so  fatigued  that  they  scarcely  moved  till  almost  trod¬ 
den  upon ;  and  although  hundreds  were  slaughtered,  for 
days  they  did  not  leave  the  district  till  the  wind  veered, 
and  they  then  suddenly  ventured  northward  across  the  sea, 
leaving  scarcely  a  straggler  behind.” 

Burckhardt  also  mentions  “  a  kind  of  partridge,”  which 
he  supposed  to  be  the  quail  of  the  Israelites,  as  occurring 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  ENCAMPMENT 


299 


in  immense  numbers  in  the  mountains  of  “  Kerak  Belka, 
Dschebal,  and  Schera,”  in  tlie  Edomite  territory,  and  north¬ 
ward,  which  “  fly  in  masses  so  thick  that  the  Arab  boys 
often  kill  two  or  three  at  a  single  blow  with  a  stick.”8 
Bonar  also  mentions  that  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  near 
Wady  Mukatteb,  “  flocks  of  pigeon-looking  birds  occasion¬ 
ally  met  us,  which  I  am  told  are  quails.”9 

If,  therefore,  this  spot  could  be  once  confidently  identi¬ 
fied  with  Kibroth- Hattaavah,  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
Scripture  narrative  would  readily  correspond  and  concur. 
But  we  lack  as  yet  some  closer  bond  of  connection,  such  as 
would  be  furnished  by  the  simplest  definite  fact. 


8  Burckhardt,  Reisen,  p.  681. 

9  Bonar,  The  Desert  of  Sinai,  p.  178. 


300 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE,  BY  SARABIT  EL  KIIADIM. 

After  visiting  the  remains  at  Erweis  el  Ebeirig,  we  re¬ 
turned  to  our  halting-place  in  Wady  Sa‘al,  and  moved  one 
hour  westward  down  the  valley  toward  Wady  es  Sheikh  and 
Sinai,  as  my  object  was  to  see  the  different  routes  and  por¬ 
tions  of  routes  conjecturally  attributed  to  the  Israelites,  and 
thus  judge  for  myself  between  them.  We  found  ourselves 
entering  at  once  among  a  great  number  of  acacia-trees, 
spread  over  the  whole  breadth  of  the  wide  valley.  Many 
of  them  were  very  large — twenty  inches,  and  even  two  feet 
or  more,  in  diameter.  Among  them  must  be  the  tree,  al¬ 
though  we  did  not  take  the  time  to  search  it  out,  which  Mr. 
Holland  found  by  measurement  to  be  nine  feet  in  circum¬ 
ference.1  All  of  them,  except  here  and  there  one,  had  a 
large  part  of  their  branches  cut  off,  as  the  Arabs  said,  for 
the  camels  in  winter.  A  well-grown  acacia  is  a  fine-looking 
tree  when  seen  at  a  distance,  somewhat  resembling  a  large 
and  thrifty  apple-tree  with  the  branches  spreading  horizon¬ 
tally.  I  had  now  had  an  opportunity  to  see  how  conspicu¬ 
ously  the  one  kind  of  tree  that  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
peninsula,  growing  to  any  considerable  size  and  furnish¬ 
ing  a  solid  wood  for  timber,  is  the  acacia.  It  is  the  one 
kind  of  wood  specified  in  the  Pentateuch  for  use  in  the  wil¬ 
derness — for  the  ark,  the  tabernacle,  the  staves,  the  altar — 


1  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  iv.  3650. 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE. ,  BY  SARABIT  EL  KHADIM.  301 


“  shittim-wood,”  or  acacia.  And  although  one  traveller  (D. 
K.  Randall),  who  had  seen  only  the  smaller  and  more  stunt¬ 
ed  specimens  that  are  to  be  found  between  Suez  and  Sinai, 
wonders  where  the  acacia-trees  are  to  be  found  large  enough 
to  make  a  board  or  plank  ten  cubits  long  and  a  cubit  and  a 
half  wide  (Exod.  xxvi.  16),  he  would  have  seen  very  read¬ 
ily  if  he  had  visited  Wady  Sa‘al.2 

The  next  day  (February  25th)  I  saw  three  kinds  of  small 
birds  around  us  as  we  started,  and  two  ravens  at  a  little  dis¬ 
tance.  A  camel  was  busily  engaged  in  eating  off  the  thorny 
branches  of  an  acacia  near  the  tips.  The  valley  continued 
broad,  and  enclosed  by  lower  lines  of  hills  than  during  the 
previous  days,  and  much  of  our  way  was  through  a  compar¬ 
atively  open  region.  Acacias  continued  as  long  as  we  were 
in  this  wady ;  not,  indeed,  so  numerous  as  on  the  preceding 
day,  but  always  in  sight.  I  saw  many  stumps  where  the 
Arabs  had  burned  down  the  trees.  Later  in  the  day,  after 
we  left  this  wady,  they  became  much  more  scarce. 

During  the  forenoon  an  ibex  ran  across  our  path  and  dis¬ 
appeared  up  the  ledge  of  rocks,  amid  great  shouting,  run¬ 
ning,  and  general  confusion  of  the  Arabs.  There  was  some 
show  of  bringing  one  of  their  unserviceable  guns  to  bear 
upon  him,  but  long  before  it  could  be  done  the  fleet  little 
fellow  was  safe  and  out  of  sight.  There  were  also  sand-col¬ 
ored  swallows  on  the  way,  such  as  we  had  seen  the  day  be¬ 
fore  at  Erweis  el  Ebeirig.  After  some  three  hours  and  a 
half,  we  left  Wady  Sa‘al  and  entered  Wady  Latshen,  and  in 
another  hour  we  emerged  into  a  series  of  small  plains,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  low  hills,  and  covered  at  intervals  with  desert 
shrubs,  but  nearly  destitute  of  trees.  Here  we  came  in 
sight  of  Jebel  Musa,  which  for  a  considerable  time  appeared 

2  Says  Mr.  Randall :  “  There  are  certainly  no  trees  now  in  this  region  from 
which  boards  of  this  size  could  be  cut.”  A  hazardous  “  certainty.” 


302 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


and  disappeared.  Jebel  Catherina  was  also  to  be  seen,  well 
sheeted  in  snow.  Just  as  we  reached  our  lnnching-place,  a 
hare  scampered  across  the  path  and  disappeared,  quite  re¬ 
gardless  of  a  revolver -ball  that  whistled  after  him.  We 
afterward  saw  others  of  these  animals,  but  only  one  at  a 
time,  although  Burckhardt  records  (p.  726)  that  in  the 
western  part  of  Et  Till,  one  day,  he  “  came  through  several 
valleys,  in  which  he  scared  up  a  multitude  of  hares.”  Here 
we  waited  a  long  time  for  our  baggage-camels,  which  had 
become  unusually  slow  for  want  of  a  proper  supply  of  grain. 
The  sheikh  had  turned  off  on  some  side-track  to  make  a 
purchase. 

For  three  days  we  had  seen  no  human  being  but  the 
members  of  our  own  company.  Passing  thus  day  after  day 
among  these  secluded  and  sombre  valleys,  the  thought  came 
over  me  with  ever-increasing  force,  What  a  grand  situation 
was  this  region  for  the  ancient  people  to  be  trained  and 
taught  of  God !  what  a  shutting  off  from  all  they  had  left 
behind,  as  well  as  from  all  the  outer  world !  and  what  a 
shutting  up  to  the  Law  and  the  Law-giver,  in  this  vast,  un¬ 
broken  solitude !  To  a  European,  it  is  quite  another  world. 
The  scenery,  mode  of  life,  method  of  travel,  companionship, 
manners,  speech,  are  all  in  the  strongest  possible  contrast  to 
everything  at  home,  and  the  life  seems  a  weird  and  phan¬ 
tom  life. 

Three  hours  from  the  time  of  leaving  Wady  Sa‘al,  the  last 
two  through  sloping  plains  like  those  of  the  morning,  we 
turned  north  into  Wady  es  Sheikh,  and  in  five  minutes  came 
to  the  pass  of  Watiyeli,  where  Robinson,  Holland,  and  oth¬ 
ers  find  Rephidim.  Here  is  a  dark,  narrow  passage  between 
very  lofty  cliffs,  which  within  a  very  short  distance  bend  the 
valley  almost  into  a  complete  semicircle.  Hear  the  northern 
end  of  the  pass  on  the  eastern  side,  just  at  the  turn,  stands  a 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE ,  BY  SARAB1T  EL  KHADIM.  303 


large  granite  rock,  with  seat-like  depressions  on  its  sides,  and 
nearly  half-way  np  a  Hat  surface  like  the  bottom  of  a  chair, 
which  is  called  by  the  Arabs  “  the  seat  of  the  prophet 
Moses.”  The  spot  would  be  admirable  as  a  place  of  de¬ 
fence,  if  one  could  comprehend  what  reason  the  Amalekites 
could  have  for  a  tight  here,  and  were  there  other  concurrent 
circumstances  to  fix  the  spot.  The  mere  name  “  Moses’s 
Seat,”  applied  to  a  rock,  not  on  a  hill  in  accordance  with 
the  Scripture  narrative,  but  by  the  way -side  in  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  a  ravine,  can  carry  little  weight  toward  identifying 
a  place.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  at  Wady  Feiran, 
besides  the  traditional  reasons,  a  weighty  object  of  contest 
in  the  fertile  valley  and  its  water-supply.  There  was  also 
to  be  a  test  stru«;o;le  whether  or  not  the  Hebrews  should 
enter  on  the  territory  of  the  Amalekites.  And  after  the 
long  waterless  march  the  time  and  place  were  as  discourag¬ 
ing  to  Israel  as  they  were  stimulating  to  Amalek.  As  be¬ 
tween  this  place  and  the  spot  before  reaching  the  oasis  of 
Feiran,  I  could  hardly  hesitate  to  add  my  opinion  to  that 
of  the  Ordnance  Survey  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

Just  before  entering  the  pass  at  Watiyeh  we  saw  a  flock 
of  goats  high  on  the  rocks,  under  the  charge  of  an  Arab 
girl,  where  they  seemed  to  find  something  to  eat  that  we 
could  not  see.  We  halted  for  the  night  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  pass,  to  accommodate  our  sheikh,  who  wished  to  pro¬ 
cure  water  from  a  well  situated  an  hour  to  the  south-west. 

February  26th.- — Though  we  had  set  out  to  return  by  the 
northern  route  from  Suez  as  far  as  the  point  of  separation 
at  Wady  ITamr,  our  night’s  encampment  had  been  in  a 
place  common  to  both  routes.  For  even  if  the  approach  to 
Sinai  was  made  by  the  southern  one,  the  mass  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  and  the  loaded  animals  must  have  taken  this  longer  and 
level  track  through  Wadv  es  Sheikh,  by  which  our  own 


304  FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 

loaded  camels  had  come  when  we  climbed  Nugb  Hawa. 
The  Israelitish  leaders  might  have  taken  the  shorter  and 
harder  way,  by  which  we  went. 

Soon  after  leaving  our  encampment  (at  7.45  a.m.),  we 
came  for  fifty  minutes  through  a  grove  of  tamarisks,  some 
of  which  were  more  than  twenty  inches  in  diameter,  and 
larger  than  any  we  had  observed.  They  stood  along  a 
watercourse,  which,  though  now  dry,  had  left  on  the  trees 
marks  of  the  stream.  The  soil  beneath  the  trees,  perhaps 
because  of  the  shade  they  furnished,  looked  moist  in  spots ; 
and  we  saw  two  places  where  charcoal  had  recently  been 
burned.  The  camels  greedily  ate  the  tips  of  the  trees  as 
we  rode  by.  At  9.50  we  passed  a  dozen  black  goat’s-hair 
Arab  tents,  surrounded  by  piles  of  shrubs  and  brushwood. 
Twenty  minutes  later  we  were  told  that  there  was  water  to 
be  had  an  hour  southward.  Wady  es  Sheikh,  in  which  we 
continued  to  travel  till  twelve  o’clock,  is  a  broad  valley 
skirted  by  low  ranges  of  hills,  containing  very  few  trees, 
except  the  tamarisk-grove  already  mentioned,  but  presenting 
the  usual  desert  herbs.  At  five  minutes  past  noon  we  turned 
north  from  Wady  es  Sheikh,  and  after  ascending  and  de¬ 
scending  a  considerable  pass,  we  entered  Wady  Senef,  and 
in  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes  we  crossed  Wady  Oesch, 
which  Knobel,  from  a  supposed  resemblance  of  names, 
would  identify  with  the  Alusli  of  the  Scriptures. 

In  Wady  Oesch  is  a  supply  of  sweet  water,  mentioned  by 
Robinson3  and  Burckhardt,4  and  visited  by  Russegger,5  who 
found  it  in  the  rock  clefts.  Burckhardt  calls  it  a  “  well,” 
and  takes  occasion  to  speak  of  the  excellence  of  the  water 
from  this  point  to  Sinai — a  commendation  in  which  every 
traveller  can  concur.  Fifteen  minutes  beyond  Wady  Oesch 


3  Researches,  i.  125. 


4  Reisen,  p.  795. 


6  lb.  p.  31. 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE, \  BY  SARABIT  EL  KHADIM.  305 


we  entered  Wady  Berrah,  a  broad  valley  enclosed  by  por¬ 
phyry  and  granite  cliffs.  At  numerous  good  resting-places 
we  saw  Sinaitic  inscriptions  and  a  few  crosses  on  the  rocks, 
and  in  one  place  we  passed  some  cairns,  which,  according  to 
a  statement  in  Murray  (from  Stewart’s  Tent  and  Khan), 
are  called  by  the  Arabs  “  the  graves  of  the  Jews.”  I  do 
not  know  that  this  statement  is  confirmed.  In  fifty -five 
minutes  we  passed  Wady  Ketamah,  where  our  Arabs  said 
there  was  water  quite  near,  and  where  Kobinson’s  Arabs 
procured  “good  water”  from  a  spring.  In  another  hour 
we  entered  Wady  Lebweh,  and  soon  halted  for  the  night. 
It  was  chilly,  the  thermometer  standing  at  forty -two  de¬ 
grees.  After  the  tents  were  pitched,  we  followed  the  ex¬ 
ample  of  the  Arabs,  and  built  a  fire  of  the  neighboring 
shrubs.  We  put  on  a  quantity  of  retem,  and  watched  with 
interest  for  the  “  coals  of  juniper”  (Psa.  cxx.  4);  They  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  like  the  best  hardwood  coals,  giving  out  a 
strong  heat,  and  brightening  up  when  separately  exposed. 

The  next  morning  (February  27th)  we  went  early  to  the 
place  of  our  last  night’s  fire,  and  found  that,  without  any 
care  of  ours,  it  had  kept  through  the  night,  and  there  were 
good  juniper  coals  beneath  the  ashes,  enough  to  kindle  it 
up  again  easily.  As  we  left  camp,  and  afterward  occasion¬ 
ally  during  the  day,  little  birds  were  singing  and  flitting 
about.  We  soon  passed,  on  the  right,  Wady  Keneb,  in  which 
water  is  found  not  far  away.  Here  we  entered  on  a  broad 
plain,  as  much  as  six  miles  long,  and  from  one  to  two  miles 
wide,  covered  in  every  direction  with  vegetation.  In  an 
hour  and  a  quarter  from  the  time  of  starting  we  passed  a 
spring  in  the  rocks  to  the  right,  which  the  Arabs  said  runs 
three  months  in  the  year,  but  was  dry  now.  A  few  acacias 
were  scattered  along  through  this  region.  In  thirty -five 
minutes  we  left  the  valley  (here  called  Akir),  and  for  thirty 

20 


306 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


minutes  ascended  to  the  top  of  a  pass,  where  we  saw  cairns, 
of  which  the  only  account  that  we  could  get  was  that  they 
were  “  ancient  tombs.”  A  rocky,  rugged  descent  of  twelve 
minutes  brought  us  fairly  into  Wady  Bark.  The  way  con¬ 
tinued  rocky;  but  here  we  began  to  encounter  very  large 
acacias,  many  of  which  were  more  than  two  feet  in  diam¬ 
eter.  At  one  point  a  little  farther  along  there  were  more 
than  two  hundred  in  sight,  at  another  point  I  counted  sixty- 
seven,  at  another  more  than  sixty.  In  one  or  two  places  I 
noticed  traces  of  coal-pits.  Young  and  thrifty  trees  were 
scarce,  nearly  all  being  old  and  crippled.  Neither  here  nor 
elsewhere  did  the  slightest  attention  seem  to  have  been 
given  to  the  trees,  except  to  destroy  them.  In  one  place 
the  solitude  was  relieved  by  a  lizard  fifteen  inches  long 
that  ran  under  a  rock,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  fore¬ 
noon  by  a ’company  of  Bedouin,  with  eight  loaded  camels, 
making  for  the  convent.  A  little  later  we  came  to  a  wall 
some  six  feet  high,  extending  up  the  hill-sides,  built  by  the 
Bedouin  a  few  years  ago,  to  resist  the  Pasha  of  Egypt,  but 
which  became  the  scene  of  their  defeat.  At  noon  we  pass¬ 
ed,  on  the  left,  Wady  Taiyibeh,  down  which,  about  three 
hours  away,  we  were  told  was  a  fountain.  Here  we  turned 
nearly  north,  crossing  Wady  Sik  in  about  half  an  hour,  and 
soon  entering  Wady  Khumileh.  This  valley  offered  noth¬ 
ing  of  interest.  After  following  it  nearly  two  hours,  we 
turned  to  the  left  from  the  usual  and  easier  road  to  Wady 
Hamr,  descended  for  fifteen  minutes  a  rough  and  difficult 
pass  into  Wady  Suwuk  (or  Suwig),  in  which,  after  about 
three-quarters  of  an  hour,  we  encamped  near  Sarabit  el 
Khadim. 

For  two  or  three  days  the  clouds  had  been  gathering,  dis¬ 
appearing  and  reappearing,  darker  each  time.  And  now, 
just  as  we  dismounted,  a  few  drops  of  rain  admonished  us 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE, \  BY  S. ARAB IT  EL  KHADIM.  307 


to  make  haste.  Hardly  were  we  comfortably  housed  before 
the  rain  came  in  good  earnest.  For  at  least  four  hours  and 
three-quarters  it  fell  steadily,  and  was  still  falling  when  I 
went  to  sleep  at  ten  o’clock.  After  three  weeks  of  uninter¬ 
rupted  fair  weather  it  was  a  pleasant  experience. 

The  very  considerable  amount  of  rainfall  in  the  penin¬ 
sula,  besides  being  indicated  in  other  ways,  is  well  attested 
by  the  similar  experience  of  other  travellers.  The  terrible 
storm  and  flood  which  Mr.  Holland  encountered  in  or  near 
Wady  Solaf  has  been  already  mentioned.  On  the  lltli  of 
December  the  Ordnance  Survey  encountered  at  Er  Rah  ah  a 
tempest  of  wind  that  tore  up  their  tent-pins,  and  that  was 
followed  by  a  snow-storm.  Mr.  Stephens  experienced  a  vio¬ 
lent  and  drenching  rain  of  several  hours,  near  the  entrance 
of  Wady  Sa‘al,  during  the  season  of  Lent.  Mr.  Randall,  on 
the  6th  of  March,  at  Sinai,  had  a  slight  shower  of  rain  “ac¬ 
companied  by  one  broad  flash  of  lightning  and  a  heavy  clap 
of  thunder.”  On  the  9th  of  March  (1854)  Graul  rode  forth 
from  Sinai  for  several  hours  in  a  storm  of  wind  and  hail, 
which  was  followed  by  a  shower  of  rain  in  Wady  Solaf. 
Stanley  experienced  in  Wady  Sa‘al  “a  sharp  storm  of  rain,” 
and  “took  refuge  under  a  retem.”  Mr.  Bonar  mentions 
rain  in  Wady  Berrah  during  the  night  of  January  30th.  In 
Wady  Lebweli,  Ebers  and  his  company  were  almost  literally 
deluged  by  a  violent  thunder-storm  during  the  night.  Graul 
learned  that  four  years  previous  to  his  visit  it  snowed  on 
one  occasion  seven  days  in  succession,  and  the  Arabs  had  to 
remove  the  snow  from  the  convent.  The  effects  of  the 
great  storm  of  1872  on  the  convent  gardens  lias  been  al¬ 
ready  mentioned. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  there  is  no  lack  of  rain  in  the 
Sinaitic  peninsula,  occurring,  according  to  these  citations,  in 
the  months  of  December,  January,  February,  and  March. 


30S 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Some  one  traveller  has  mentioned  that  there  had  been  a 
drought  for  two  years  in  Wady  Sa‘al  at  the  time  of  his  visit. 
But  from  the  testimonies  given,  it  would  appear  that  in 
general  throughout  this  region  there  are  abundant  rainfalls 
during  the  year,  sometimes  in  excessive  quantities,  and  that, 
too,  though  the  valleys  are  so  largely  denuded  of  trees. 
This  fact  is  an  important  element  in  estimating  the  possi¬ 
bilities  of  the  journey  of  Israel  as  recorded  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures. 

Next  morning  (February  28tli)  the  air  was  clear.  Some 
broken  clouds  still  floated  in  the  sky,  but  were  soon  scat¬ 
tered  by  a  high  wind.  Our  dragoman  had  negotiated  last 
night  for  an  ibex  which  an  Arab  had  killed  and  brought  to 
us  here,  and  to-day  we  had  our  first  experiment  of  this  kind 
of  food.  It  was  very  similar  to  good  mutton  or  venison, 
improving  very  much  in  quality  after  being  kept  some  time. 
The  fine  pair  of  horns  which  I  secured  accompanied  us 
through  the  remainder  of  our  journey,  and,  after  having 
been  once  stolen  and  recovered  at  Hebron,  have  found  their 
way  to  a  home  in  Chicago. 

Early  in  the  morning  we  set  off  to  visit  the  ruins  of  Sara- 
bit  el  Khadim.  Notwithstanding  the  heavy  rain  of  the  pre¬ 
vious  night  we  experienced  no  inconvenient  effects.  The 
water  had  run  off  from  the  hill-sides  and  disappeared  in  the 
sands.  Our  attendants,  however,  had  evidently  made  up 
their  minds  to  have  a  Ions;  halt  here.  First  came  the  drao;o- 
man’s  servant  Ibrahim  to  say  that  it  would  rain,  and  would 
be  a  bad  day  for  visiting  the  ruins.  I  had  consulted  the 
barometer,  however,  and  told  him  we  would  go.  Then 
came  the  sheikh  to  say  that  the  rain  had  made  the  walking 
too  bad  for  us.  I  told  him  we  did  not  mind  that.  Then 
he  appealed  to  us  to  stay  on  account  of  a  sick  camel.  But 
as  he  had  troubled  us  before,  and  as  we  knew  that  there 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE ,  BY  SARABIT  EL  KHADIM.  309 


were  other  Arabs  near  of  whom  we  could  easily  procure 
another,  if  necessary,  we  informed  him  that  we  could  not 
spend  our  time  and  money  in  waiting.  But  it  was  nine 
o’clock  before  we  could  get  off. 

After  ordering  the  camp  to  move  toward  Wady  Hamr, 
we  crossed  a  steep  hill,  or  ridge,  immediately  west  of  our 
hut,  and  descended  at  once  into  Wady  Sarabit.  It  was  a 
long,  deep  glen.  The  eastern  side  of  it  was  a  sandstone 
wall,  almost  as  vertical  as  a  piece  of  masonry.  On  the  west¬ 
ern  side  rose  Sarabit  el  Khadim,  which  Palmer  translates 
“  the  heights  of  the  servant,”  being  informed  by  his  Arab 
that  it  was  so  called  from  a  black  statue  of  a  servant  which 
was  carried  away  by  the  French.  Ebers  conjectures  that  it 
means  “  the  heights  of  the  stronghold,”  from  an  Egyptian 
word,  chetcim.  Mr.  Bonar  shows  that  all  things  are  possi¬ 
ble  in  the  way  of  identification,  by  connecting  Sarabit  with 
Zarephatli,  and  suggesting  that  it  may  have  been  a  south¬ 
ern  smelting-place  of  the  Phoenicians,  corresponding  to  the 
northern  Zarephatli,  “  which  was  the  great  smelting-place 
for  the  mines  of  the  north.” 

The  hill  rises  some  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  valley. 
A  series  of  sharp  ascents,  sometimes  over  loose  rocks,  and 
of  walks  along  the  edges  of  precipitous  cliffs,  brought  us  to 
the  top  in  three-fourths  of  an  hour  from  the  camp.  Here 
we  found  an  oblong  plateau,  of  some  acres  in  extent,  on  the 
northern  part  of  which  are  the  principal  ruins.  They  were 
first  visited  by  Niebuhr  in  1762,  he  having  been  guided 
thither  by  mistake.  They  have  since  been  often  visited  and 
described.  Crossing  the  ruins  of  an  enclosing  wall,  that 
had  been  laid  without  mortar,  we  hastened  to  the  temples. 
Passing  through  the  outer  temple,  of  which  the  parts  lay 
scattered  in  much  confusion,  we  entered  the  older  and  inner 
structure,  which  Sharpe  characterizes  as  “  perhaps  the  oldest 


310 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 


temple  in  the  world.”6  It  is  hewn  in  the  sandstone  cliff. 
The  principal  chamber,  the  one  we  entered,  is  small,  measur¬ 
ing  only  about  sixteen  feet  by  ten,  with  a  column  left  in  the 
centre  two  feet  square — although  the  front  face  is  reduced 
by  a  split  to  fifteen  inches.  In  the  end  of  the  room,  oppo¬ 
site  the  door,  is  a  niche  three  feet  wide,  three  feet  deep,  and 
two  feet  high,  to  the  left  of  which,  on  the  wall,  are  seated 
figures,  showing  traces  of  green  paint  and  other  colors  dimly 
discernible.  Another  niche  exists  in  the  eastern  side  toward 
the  farther  end,  and  on  the  same  side,  nearer  the  door,  is 
the  entrance  to  another  rock-liewn  room,  which  offers  noth¬ 
ing  of  special  interest.  These  niches  are  supposed  to  have 
been  for  images  of  the  gods,  or  perhaps  for  altars.  The 
surface  of  the  walls  has  largely  scaled  off,  leaving  here  and 
there  hieroglyphics,  with  traces  of  paint.  The  red  and 
black  band  above  and  below  the  green  of  the  hieroglyphics 
is  very  difficult  to  detect.  The  apartment  itself  is  so  filled 
with  debris  as  to  be  not  more  than  about  four  and  a  half 
feet  high,  and  the  door  not  more  than  two  and  a  half.  The 
powdered  red  sandstone  has  formed  again  at  the  bottom 
into  another  softer  sandstone.  On  the  front  of  the  central 
column  are  still  to  be  seen  six  figures,  showing  clear  traces 
of  green  paint  over  the  principal  parts,  and  among  them  a 
royal  cartoucli,  from  which  I  copied  the  name  of  Amen- 
emha  II.,  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  in  the  twenty-fourth  year 
of  whose  reign  these  explorations  were  commenced.7  This 
smaller  and  oldest  temple  was  extended  a  few  feet  in  front 
of  the  excavation  by  means  of  masonry. 

In  front  of  this,  and  connected  with  it,  though  not  in  the 
same  line,  but  farther  to  the  west,  is  a  much  larger  temple 
in  ruins.  It  consisted  of  an  open  court,  and  beyond  it  a 


6  Sharpe’s  History  of  Egypt,  i.  28. 


7  Birch’s  History  of  Egypt,  p.  6Y. 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE,  BY  BAR  ABIT  EL  KHADIM.  311 


building  divided  into  small  rooms.  Portions  of  the  walls 
and  fragments  of  columns  lie  about  in  confusion.  A  few 
columns  are  standing  upright,  and  their  capitals  are  adorned 
with  heads  of  Athor,  the  Egyptian  Venus,  to  whom  the  place 
seems  especially  to  have  been  consecrated.  The  temples  are 
understood  to  have  been  for  the  use  of  the  Egyptian  miners 
and  their  guards  employed  in  this  neighborhood.  In  the 
court  are  a  few  tall  sandstone  stelae ,  or  tablets,  the  tallest  of 
them  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  high,  with  inscriptions  badly 
effaced  by  time.  Signs  of  recent  digging  showed  fragments 
of  pottery  and  alabaster  vessels.  The  Ordnance  Survey 
found  a  gold  ornament,  a  few  scarabsei,  and  pottery.  The 
carvings  on  the  outside  of  the  southern  wall  of  this  temple 
are  very  well  preserved,  and  were  made  after  the  stones 
were  in  place,  as  the  carvings  extend  across  the  junctures. 
Around  this  temple  is  a  large  oblong  enclosure  of  stones, 
now  fallen,  comprising  a  space  100  feet  in  length  and  70 
in  breadth.  About  a  third  of  a  mile  south  of  the  temple, 
on  a  high  and  sightly  point  of  the  ridge,  stands  a  tall  stela 
in  the  centre  of  a  small  enclosure,  now  fallen ;  and  on  the 
stela  can  be  barely  discerned  a  royal  cartouch.  Between 
this  and  the  temple  are  several  other  tablets,  mostly  fallen, 
and  surrounded  by  the  fallen  walls  of  small  enclosures. 
One  stands  nearly  east  of  the  temple.  There  are  about 
twent}^  stelae,  including  the  fallen  ones. 

On  these  temples  and  tablets  are  found  the  names  of  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  most  remarkable  Egyptian  monarchs,  extending 
from  the  twelfth  to  the  twentieth  dynasties,  from  before  the 
time  of  Joseph  till  after  Moses.  These  works  are  later  in 
origin  and  later  of  abandonment  than  those  at  Maghara. 
Amenemha  II.,  in  whose  reign  they  were  commenced,8  was 


8  This  is  the  express  statement  of  Dr.  Birch.  Ebers  (p.  452)  affirms  it  to  be 
positively  settled  (es  steht  fest)  that  these  works  are  as  old  as  those  of  Maghara. 


312 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  monarch  in  whose  reign  (or  that  of  his  predecessor  and 
associate,  Osirtasen  I.)  the  celebrated  Asiatic  procession  was 
inscribed  in  the  tomb  at  Beni-Hassan.  The  other  royal 
names  definitely  mentioned  by  Mr.  Birch,  are  those  of 
Amenemha  III.,  Amenhept  III.  (and  apparently  Amenhept 
IV.),  Setneeht,  and  Baineses  III.,  of  the  twentieth  dynasty, 
“the  last  of  the  great  heroic  kings  of  Egypt.”9  Lepsius 
expressly  adds  the  great  warrior  monarch,  Thotlnnes  III.10 
Ebers  erroneously  asserts  that  no  royal  name  is  found  here 
later  than  Baineses  II.* 11  It  will  be  seen  that  a  long  hiatus 
exists  from  the  twelfth  to  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  Then 
(unless  the  name  of  Baineses  II.  be  indeed  here)  there  fol¬ 
lows  another  gap  to  the  twentieth  dynasty,  and  the  series 
ends  with  the  last  of  the  greater  monarchs.  Thus  while  the 
inscriptions  at  Maghara  end  with  Thotlnnes  III.,12  undoubt¬ 
edly  before  the  Exodus,  the  inscriptions  at  Sarabit  el  Kha- 
dim  date  both  before  and  after,  but  none  have  been  found 
coinciding  with  the  supposed  date  or  dates  of  the  Exodus. 
Still,  the  absence  of  the  records  will  not  certainly  disprove 
the  occupancy,  especially  in  the  case  of  Sarabit  el  Khadim, 
where  there  was  a  later  possession,  and  where  intermediate 
names  may  have  been  obliterated.  Perhaps  here  is  some  clue 


His  sole  basis  for  the  statement  is  the  inscription  at  Sarabit  el  Khadim,  “  The 
like  was  not  done  since  the  days  of  King  Snefru.”  We  may  add,  the  like  in¬ 
ference  was  never  drawn  but  by  a  German. 

9  History  of  Egypt,  pp.  67,  71,  76, 113,  144,  151. 

10  Letters  from  Egypt,  etc.,  Bohn’s  edition,  p.  301. 

11  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  p.  139.  Mr.  Palmer,  probably  following  an  error 
of  Wilkinson,  says  (p.  233)  that  the  name  of  Rameses  IV.  is  here.  Murray’s 
Guide  to  Egypt  and  Palestine  adds  many  other  names,  e.  (/.,  Osirtasen  I., 
Thotlnnes  IV.,  Seti,  Rameses  II.,  Meneplita,  Rameses  IV.,  V.,  VI.,  and  “  nearly 
all  the  kings  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty.”  It  is  difficult  to  say  whence  this  in¬ 
formation  was  dei’ived. 

12  So  says  Mr.  Palmer,  p.  233.  But  Ebers  insists  (Durch  Gosen,  pp.  139, 
150,  538,  et  seq.)  that  the  escutcheon  of  Rameses  II.  is  found  at  Maghara. 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE,  BY  S ARAB  IT  EL  KHADIM.  313 

to  the  probable  journey  of  Israel.  The  knowledge  that  this 
place,  and  the  neighboring  region  as  far  as  Maghara,  had 
been  held  as  stations  of  Egyptian  soldiery — for  we  find  in 
the  second  year  of  Amenemha  III.  that  there  was  a  garrison 
of  734  men  at  the  latter  place13 — would  naturally  deter  the 
Israelites  from  the  northern  route  to  Sinai.  Should  it  prove 
true,  as  Ebers  holds,  that  Maghara,  and  thus,  doubtless,  Sa- 
rabit  el  Khadim,  had  been  held  by  Raineses  II.,  the  reason 
would  be  a  strong  one.  And  the  absence  of  records  from 
that  time  to  the  reign  of  Setnecht  would  coincide  with  the 
probable  weakness  and  confusion  of  the  empire  after  the 
calamities  of  the  Exodus.  The  scarabsei,  broken  pottery, 
broken  necklace,  and  gold  ornament  that  have  been  found 
here,  to  say  nothing  of  buildings  and  inscriptions  far  ante¬ 
dating  the  residence  in  Egypt,  are  incontestable  proof  of  the 
possibility  that  some  actual  relics  of  the  passage  of  Israel 
through  this  whole  region  might  be  found,  especially  in 
places  of  considerable  sojourn ;  that  the  careful  search  for 
some  such  tokens  is  not  folly ;  and  that  not  even  the  belief 
that  they  are  discovered  is  absurd.  It  is  a  question  of  sim¬ 
ple  evidence,  having  no  presumptions  against  it. 

On  the  way  from  the  temples  to  the  southern  stela  is 
what  has  been  called  a  slag-heap,  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
north  of  the  temples  is  another,  still  larger.  The  speck 
mens  which  I  brought  away  contain  iron  in  considerable 
quantities,  but  do  not  seem  certainly  to  be  slag. 

Toward  noon  we  continued  our  way  in  the  direction  of 
AVady  Hamr.  The  route  offered  no  objects  of  interest. 
We  travelled  some  six  miles  north  in  AVady  Suwiik,  leaving 
behind  us  the  high  sandstone  chain  of  which  Sarabit  el 
Khadim  is  a  part,  thence  westward,  passing  some  curious 


13  Birch’s  History,  p.  71. 


314 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


isolated  peaks  and  oblong  heights ;  crossing  a  considerable 
space  of  sand  followed  by  open  slopes,  till  we  reached  a 
rocky  platform  that  formed  the  highest  point  and  boundary 
between  the  eastern  and  the  western  wadies.  Our  camp 
was  in  AVady  Beda,  just  east  of  the  summit.  North  of  us, 
stretching  to  the  right  and  left  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
see,  was  the  high  mountain  range  of  Jebel  et  Till  and  El 
Ejmeli.  By  walking  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  west,  we 
could  see  the  mountains  beyond  the  Bed  Sea.  The  day  was 
cold,  and  we  were  glad  to  reach  the  shelter  of  our  tent. 

Sunday ,  Mai'ch  1st. — The  first  day  of  spring  came  in 
bright  and  pleasant,  but  the  thermometer  was  at  forty-three 
degrees  at  seven  o’clock.  All  around  us,  and  even  within  a 
few  rods  of  our  tents,  were  fresh  ibex -tracks,  made  dur¬ 
ing  the  night  or  early  morning.  AVe  were  upon  a  region  of 
sandstone,  the  upper  part  of  which  was  disintegrated,  leav¬ 
ing  hard  nodules.  There  was  also  an  abundance  of  various- 
colored  quartz  and  felspar,  from  the  decomposition  of  coarse 
granite.  In  the  immediate  neighborhood  there  was  not  an 
object  of  interest  nor  a  living  creature  to  be  seen  except 
what  belonged  to  our  own  company.  A  day  of  more  abso¬ 
lute  Sabbath  stillness  could  not  well  be  imagined. 

AVe  left  camp  (March  2d)  just  before  eight  o’clock,  to  fol¬ 
low  this  northern  route  to  its  place  of  divergence  from  the 
junction  of  wadies  Shebeikeh  and  Hamr.  Sheikh  Selim,  as 
usual,  said  that  it  could  not  be  done  so  as  to  return  to  our 
camp  the  same  day.  AVe  descended  at  once  from  the  high 
plateau  into  AVady  Hamr,  which  was  here  a  broad  and 
rather  barren  opening,  bounded  by  low  hills  and  hillocks  of 
sandstone  and  sand,  beyond  which  on  the  north  lay  the 
high  range  of  Et  Till.  The  retem  was  moderately  abundant 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  wady,  and  there  was  a  fine 
supply  of  desert  herbs,  though  much  less  than  in  the  moun- 


THE  NORTHERN  ROUTE ,  BY  SARABIT  EL  KHADIM.  315 

tain  wadies.  Of  trees  we  saw  but  about  a  dozen  (acacias) 
through  the  whole  distance  of  about  sixteen  miles  that  we 
travelled. 

We  soon  met  a  caravan  of  Arabs  from  Cairo,  with  twenty 
camels,  loaded  chiefly  with  provisions  for  the  convent.  Our 
Arabs  said  that  this  route  is  a  day  shorter  than  the  other. 
At  9.45  the  valley  became  much  narrower,  and  was  bounded 
by  higher  and  more  continuous  cliffs  on  both  sides.  At  this 
point  we  passed  a  few  Sinaitic  inscriptions.  At  10.15  we 
reached  the  south-east  corner  of  Sarabit  el  Jemel,  and  the 
way  became  increasingly  barren.  About  noon  we  passed 
the  mouth  of  Wady  Ibn  Sukr,  which  stretched  to  the  north, 
and  seemed  to  be  much  better  covered  with  vegetation. 
The  high  limestonje  cliffs  on  each  side  now  rendered  the 
valley,  though  of  considerable  breadth,  very  hot  and  uncom¬ 
fortable.  We  kept  on  till  half-past  twelve,  and  then  climb¬ 
ed  the  high  limestone  bank  and  traced  the  course  of  the 
valley  to  where  within  about  a  mile  it  wound  round  to  the 
entrance  of  Wady  Taiyibeh,  the  dark  cliffs  of  which  were 
plainly  in  sight.  As  we  had,  on  our  way  to  Sinai,  looked  up 
into  the  entrance  of  Wady  Hamr  from  Shebeikeh,  and  had 
now  followed  it  back  so  close  to  the  point  of  junction,  our 
object  was  accomplished,  and  we  returned  to  our  camp. 
We  had  been  eleven  hours  in  the  saddle,  and  as  we  had 
pushed  our  camels,  we  reckoned  the  distance  about  sixteen 
miles  and  back.  Wady  Hamr  toward  its  lower  end  is  ex¬ 
tremely  winding,  and  the  journey  itself  was  of  very  little 
interest,  except  as  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  exact  nat¬ 
ure  of  the  route.  The  track  to-day  was  an  easy  one,  and 
indeed  the  whole  route  from  Sinai  offered  no  passages  of 
extreme  difficulty.  The  descent  into  Wady  Suwuk  had 
been  rough  and  hard,  and  wheel-carriages  could  hardly  have 
passed  over  it.  But  there  was  an  easier  way  around.  The 


316 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


considerations  against  this  route  lie  not  in  its  impracticabil¬ 
ity,  so  much  as  in  its  being  a  return  from  the  encampment 
by  the  sea,  and  more  exposed  to  contact  with  Egyptian 
forces. 

The  water-supply  I  have  indicated  so  far  as  I  could  as¬ 
certain  it.  One  spring  mentioned  by  Mr.  Palmer  in  Wady 
Berrah  is  possibly  to  be  added  to  those  I  have  specified, 
though  I  am  not  confident.  He  also  mentions  (p.  23)  a 
perennial  stream  in  Wady  Hash,  south  of  our  route.  Pus- 
segger,  who  camped  in  Wady  Hash,  describes  only  some 
wells  there,  one  hour  down  the  valley,  which  he  visited,  and 
found  the  water  salt  but  cool,  and,  in  comparison  with  the 
water  of  Ay  tin  Musa,  which  had  been  kept  in  leathern  bags, 
“a  drink  for  the  gods.”14  Mr.  Palmer,  who  visited  the 
wady,  speaks  (p.  143)  of  “  a  little  spring  modestly  oozing  out 
from  behind  a  huge  stone.”15 


14  Reisen,  iii.  28. 

15  All  references  to  Palmer’s  Desert  of  the  Exodus  are  to  the  English  edition. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


317 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 

We  left  camp  (March  3d)  at  7.45,  moving  northward 
across  the  plain  toward  the  pass  Er  Rakineh.  It  is  a  route 
seldom  travelled  by  any  but  natives.  The  only  Europeans 
who  had  preceded  us,  and  had  made  a  record  of  the  jour¬ 
ney,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  were  Strauss  in  1845,  and  Bonar 
in  1856.  We  soon  entered  the  deep,  dry  bed  of  a  wady, 
which  steadily  grew  deeper  as  wre  approached  the  precipi¬ 
tous  wall  in  front  of  us  by  a  long  and  gradual  ascent.  Be¬ 
fore  us,  to  the  east  and  the  west,  stretched  the  high  moun¬ 
tain  range,  not  revealing  to  the  eye  a  single  point  that 
seemed  accessible,  although  there  are  really  four  of  these 
passes  at  wide  distances  apart,  namely,  Emreikheh,  Raki¬ 
neh,  Wursah,  Mirad. 

At  10.50  we  fairly  commenced  upon  the  mountain  pass, 
and  the  heat  of  the  sun  fell  upon  us  in  full  power  as  wre 
crawled  up  this  glaring  southern  exposure.  It  seemed  im¬ 
possible  that  loaded  camels  could  ever  reach  the  top.  As 
we  wound  our  zigzag  way  up  the  mountain  side,  the  view 
behind  opened  more  and  more  impressively.  Directly  be¬ 
neath  lay  the  plain  we  had  just  crossed,  adittle  beyond  it 
the  Debbet  er  Ramleh  (“plain  of  sand”),  then  the  deep 
brown  and  red  of  the  Sarabit  el  Kliadim  range,  beyond  that 
the  sharp  bold  outline  of  Serbal,  and  farther  to  the  left  Je- 
bel  Catherine  streaked  with  snow.  For  about  half  an  hour 
the  rock  we  were  climbing  seemed  to  be  sandstone,  after 


318 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


which  we  were  making  our  way  evidently  up  the  great  lime¬ 
stone  plateau  that  stretches  far  to  the  north.  In  an  hour 
and  a  half  we  reached  the  top  of  the  sharp  cliffs,  and  the 
barometer  showed  our  ascent  during  the  time  to  have  been 
nine  hundred  and  seventy  feet,  not  including  the  long  pre¬ 
vious  rise  along  the  wady  and  some  subsequent  ascent. 

After  a  brief  pause  to  rest  and  to  enjoy  the  singular  pros¬ 
pect,  we  followed  for  forty  minutes  a  deep,  tortuous  wady- 
bed,  observing  a  large  amount  of  vegetation  in  the  connect- 
ed  wadies  and  on  the  slopes,  especially  wherever  the  slight¬ 
est  depression  formed  a  watercourse.  We  halted  at  our 
lunching-plaee  an  hour  and  a  half  for  our  baggage-camels 
to  overtake  us.  It  was  nearly  two  hours  more  before  we 
fairly  emerged  from  the  intricacies  of  the  long  defile,  the 
path  holding  on  through  a  series  of  twisted  watercourses, 
up  and  down,  now  along  rocky  cliffs  of  loose  texture,  and 
now  by  the  side  of  precipitous  strata  of  solid  stone,  at  the 
foot  of  which  lay  immense  quantities  of  great  fallen  blocks, 
as  if  for  the  building  of  a  pyramid. 

At  four  o’clock  the  sight  of  two  small  palm-trees  promised 
water.  We  found  a  little  stream,  which  the  Arabs  said  was 
perennial,  issuing  from  among  the  rocks,  forming  a  series  of 
capacious  pools,  and  running  off  into  a  deep  limestone  ra¬ 
vine.  The  first  pool  was  seventy  feet  long  by  twenty-five 
feet  wide,  and  in  its  deepest  places  ten  or  twelve  feet  deep. 
Another  was  about  a  hundred  feet  long,  varying  from  twen¬ 
ty  to  forty  feet  wide,  and  from  six  inches  to  three  feet  in 
depth.  There  were  other  pools  of  considerable  capacity 
below  (as  well  as  between  these),  and  the  stream  wound 
thence  through  a  long  ravine  or  canon,  where  the  channel 
was  worn  sixty  feet  deep,  with  almost  vertical  walls,  and 
the  water  stood  in  some  places  a  few  inches  and  in  others 
eight  or  ten  feet  in  depth.  We  could  trace  the  water  in 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


319 


tills  channel  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  before  our  path  turned 
away  from  it.  The  name  of  the  place  was  given  to  us  by 
the  Arabs  as  Abu  Nutheigineh.  The  same  name  was  ob¬ 
tained  by  Strauss,  and  appears  in  the  list  given  to  Bonar  by 
his  sheikh,  although  the  latter  enters  it  in  his  journal  as 
JSTuthagah,  possibly  from  a  wrong  hearing.  Strauss  speaks 
of  the  place,  however,  as  containing  only  “  cisterns  of  rain¬ 
water.”  Our  casks  were  filled  here.  At  this  spot  Mr.  Bo- 
nar’s  dragoman  and  sheikh  constrained  him,  though  unwill¬ 
ing,  to  halt  for  the  night,  saying  that  “the  men  and  camels 
were  weary.”  Our  sheikh  made  us  the  same  proposal,  to 
which  we  declined  to  accede.  The  dragoman  seconded  our 
decision,  remarking  that  the  rocky  surface  would  not  hold 
our  tent-pins,  and  the  sky  looked  threatening.  The  Arabs 
were  always  inclined  to  take  things  easily. 

Continuing  our  way,  ascending  and  descending,  in  a 
north-easterly  direction,  we  came  at  length  to  an  open 
plateau,  stretching  away  before  us  on  every  side,  yet  broken 
here  and  there  by  ridges  of  rock  terminating  most  abruptly 
on  the  sides  and  ends.  Two  or  three  large  mountain  groups 
were  in  sight,  but  the  whole  scene  offered  nothing  either  at¬ 
tractive  or  impressive.  It  was  not  exactly  a  sand-sea,  inter¬ 
rupted  here  and  there  by  abrupt  islands  of  rock,  but  rather 
a  rough  and  undulating  dreary  brown  plain,  broken  occa¬ 
sionally  by  sharp  and  shapeless  oblong  rock-mounds,  looking 
“like  baked  earth  or  sun-dried  clay,”  never  diversified  by 
peak  or  cone,  but  as  flat  as  the  plain  below.  The  surface  of 
the  soil  was  generally  hard,  and  frequently  strewn  with 
flints.  We  found  indications  of  recent  rain  as  we  advanced, 
and  the  clouds  were  still  lowering.  Over  that  part  of  the 
plain  which  we  now,  entered,  besides  the  common  desert- 
vegetation,  a  multitude  of  herbs  were  just  visible  above 
ground,  with  the  promise  of  making  it  shortly  a  green. 


320 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Between  Hutheigineh  and  Nukhl  we  had  no  occasion  to 
search  for  water,  nor  did  we  learn  of  any  special  supply. 
The  wadies  in  places  showed  signs  of  moisture.  So  far  as 
our  observation  extended,  Mr.  Palmer’s  description  would 
hold :  “  The  country  is  nearly  waterless,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  springs  situated  in  the  larger  wadies;  but  even 
here  water  can  only  be  obtained  by  scraping  small  holes  or 
pits  in  the  ground,  and  baling  it  out  with  the  hand.”1  We 
had  no  occasion  to  resort  to  this  process.  As  his  path  to 
hlukhl  lay  some  distance  to  the  east  of  ours,  by  the  pass 
of  Emreikheh,  his  general  description  of  the  soil  will  both 
express  and  supplement  our  observation  of  this  part  of  the 
desert :  u  The  ground  is  for  the  most  part  arid  and  unyield¬ 
ing,  and  is  covered  in  many  places  with  a  carpet  of  flints. 
In  spite  of  the  utterly  arid  nature  of  the  soil,  a  quantity  of 
brown  parched  herbage  is  scattered  over  the  surface,  and  af¬ 
fords  excellent  fuel  for  the  camp-fire.  During  the  greater 
part  of  the  year  this  remains  to  all  appearances  burned  up 
and  dead,  but,  as  I  have  before  remarked  in  the  case  of  the 
Sinai  desert,  it  bursts  into  sudden  life  with  the  spring  and 
winter  rains.  In  the  larger  wadies,  draining  as  they  do  so 
extensive  an  area,  a  very  considerable  amount  of  moisture 
infiltrates  through  the  soil,  producing  much  more  vegetation 
than  on  the  plains.  Sufficient  pasturage  for  the  camels  is 


1  Mr.  Palmer’s  narrative  mentions  no  spring  or  well  on  his  route  between  the 
pass  of  Emreikheh  and  Nuklil.  But  just  before  entering  on  the  Till  he  passed, 
in  Wady  el  Byar,  “three  or  four  deep  but  dirty  wells”  of  disagreeable  water, 
not  only  impregnated  with  ammonia  from  the  “  goats  of  centuries,”  but  contain¬ 
ing  a  strong  solution  of  Epsom  salts.  He  was,  however,  compelled  to  live  on  it 
for  nearly  a  week.  He  adds  (p.  320) :  “  The  want  of  water  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  drawbacks  to  desert  exploration;  we  ourselves  suffered  considerably 
•from  it  at  times,  and  I  have  on  several  occasions  been  compelled  to  go  as 
much  as  three  weeks  without  so  much  as  washing  my  hands.”  Our  own 
company  never  lacked  good  water  in  abundance,  both  for  cooking,  drinking, 
and  washing. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


321 


always  to  be  had  in  these  spots,  and  here  and  there  a  few 
patches  of  ground  are  available  for  cultivation.” 

To  this  general  statement  it  may  be  added  that  in  this 
western  region,  where  we  crossed,  the  wradies  are  very  ex¬ 
tensive.  Wady  el  Arish  runs  across  nearly  the  whole  des¬ 
ert,  and  often  spreads  out  to  a  great  width.  It  is  also  joined 
by  numerous  others,  the  chief  of  which  are  Garaiah  and, 
farther  north,  Abyadli,  with  their  branches.  The  extent  of 
these  more  moist  and  fertile  areas  will  appear  in  the  sequel. 
Probably,  moreover,  the  effect  of  the  winter  rains  on  the 
general  desert  is  not  usually  taken  sufficiently  into  the  ac¬ 
count.  I  had  already  observed,  on  first  entering  upon  this 
region,  the  large  amount  of  vegetation  just  peeping  above 
the  surface.  Our  journey  was  too  early  in  the  season  for  us 
to  see  the  full  effect  of  these  rains,  affirmed  as  it  is  by  so 
many  distinct  sources  of  information.  Mr.  Palmer  passed 
through  the  region  still  earlier  (in  January),  and  seems  to 
have  experienced  an  unusually  dry  season.  Mr.  Bonar 
crossed  this  region  in  February,  but  unfortunately  makes  al¬ 
most  no  remark  bearing  on  the  subject.  Strauss,  whose  pas¬ 
sage  over  the  same  track  must  have  been  nearly  of  the  same 
date  as  our  own,  simply  says  that  “the  journey  was  in  val¬ 
leys  mostly  covered  with  flint  or  quicksand,”  specifying, 
however,  that  the  second  night  they  encamped  in  Wady  el 
Arish  “under  tamarisks,  and  the  camels  found  excellent 
pasturage.”  But  it  must  be  said  that  the  general  aspect  of 
the  region  is  singularly  forbidding,  and  that  the  broad  and 
extensive  wadies  seem  to  the  eye  the  only  hopeful  regions. 
No  traces  of  former  occupancy  fell  under  our  observation 
before  reaching  Nukhl. 

At  about  six  o’clock,  notwithstanding  the  assertion  of  our 
Arabs  (to  which  we  had  learned  to  pay  no  heed)  that  there 
was  no  good  spot  for  a  camp  beyond  Nugheitineh,  we 

21 


322 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


reached  a  place  where  there  was  room  for  an  army,  and  we 
halted  for  the  night.  They  called  it  Tabigat  Hutheigineh. 
Jebel  Rakineh  lay  south  thirty-five  degrees  west,  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  about  five  miles.  The  clouds  looked  threaten¬ 
ing,  and  in  the  evening  there  was  a  slight  sprinkling  of 
rain. 

On  the  morning  of  March  4th  all  was  in  readiness  for 
an  early  start,  except  one  camel.  The  creature  had  myste¬ 
riously  disappeared  here  in  the  desert.  After  three-fourths 
of  an  hour  spent  in  fruitless  search,  his  load  was  distributed 
among  the  other  animals,  and  at  twenty  minutes  before 
eiMit  we  were  in  motion.  At  nine  we  struck  the  south- 

O 

west  end  or  branch  of  Wady  el  Arish,  which  was  here  a 
broad  basin  a  hundred  feet  deep,  beginning  abruptly  on  the 
right  of  our  path,  and  spreading  out  into  several  lateral 
branches  equally  deep  and  abrupt.  Its  bed  was  well  filled 
with  herbs  and  lines  of  shrubs.  In  ten  minutes  we  de¬ 
scended  into  it,  and  found  the  shrubs  to  be  partly  retem, 
but  chiefly  tamarisk.  We  continued  to  follow  the  bed  of 
the  wady  four  hours,  before  once  diverging  from  it.  Mean¬ 
while  the  high  banks  gradually  grew  lower,  till  at  one 
o’clock  they  were  but  a  few  feet  high,  and  the  valley  as 
steadily  grew  broader.  At  lunch-time  I  paced  it,  and  found 
the  breadtli  to  be  three-fourths  of  a  mile.  In  many  places 
it  was  greater.  Through  the  whole  distance  it  was  well  in¬ 
terspersed  with  desert  herbs,  except  in  the  deep  gullies,  and 
was  filled  with  parallel  lines  of  tamarisks,  growing  mostly 
in  clumps.  Seen  in  advance,  it  looked  like  a  forest  of  low 
trees.  At  lunch-time  we  started  a  hare,  which,  having  no 
experience  of  Arab  shooting,  ran  as  though  his  life  depended 
on  it.  Here  we  were  kept  waiting  two  hours  for  our  bag¬ 
gage-camels,  which  were  probably  delayed  by  their  perpet¬ 
ual  cropping  of  the  herbs  and  shrubs,  a  practice  to  which 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


323 


not  only  is  the  creature  addicted,  but  in  which  his  driver 
persists  in  indulging  him  on  every  opportunity. 

At  three  in  the  afternoon  we  set  forward,  leaving  the 
wady  for  a  time,  and  travelling  over  a  hard  level  surface 
covered  with  flints  and  gravel.  There  was  little  vegetation, 
except  in  the  depressions  of  the  surface;  but  however  slight 
these  might  be,  they  were  always  lined  with  herbs.  After  a 
time  our  course  led  us  back  into  the  great  wady ;  and  when, 
at  five  o’clock,  we  left  it  again,  we  could  still  trace  its  line 
of  tamarisks  in  the  distance  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see.  At 
5.45  we  encamped  on  the  edge  of  one  of  its  branches,  al¬ 
most  due  west  of  the  chief  peak  of  Jebel  Ejmeh.  During 
the  day  we  had  encountered  no  one,  although  Mr.  Bonar,  in 
the  month  of  February,  had  seen  along  the  region  we  had 
travelled,  in  Wady  Barudli  el  Ayedeli,  a  flock  of  seventy  or 
eighty  camels  feeding,  which  the  Arabs  were  keeping  there 
“  a  month  or  two  for  pasturage.”  The  day  had  been  cloudy, 
with  slight  sprinklings,  and  in  the  evening  the  rain  set  in 
with  some  steadiness. 

It  rained,  with  intervals,  through  the  night,  and  a  closing- 
shower  fell  next  morning  (March  5)  at  seven  o’clock.  But 
as  the  Arabs  and  the  barometer  promised  fair  weather,  we 
moved  on  at  twenty  minutes  past  eight.  We  deemed  it  im¬ 
portant  to  reach  Xukhl  that  night,  as  we  were  to  change 
Arabs  and  camels  there,  and  wished  to  forestall  a  part  of 
the  vexatious  delay  always  attendant.  We  had  the  usual 
difficulty  of  ascertaining  the  distance,  and  received  little 
encouragement  from  the  Arabs  that  we  could  go  through. 
They  wanted  another  day’s  pay.  We  were  obliged,  as 
usual,  to  settle  our  own  plans,  and  we  determined,  if  possi¬ 
ble,  to  push  through. 

In  one  hour  we  passed  the  northern  point  of  Jebel  el 
Ejmeh,  and  came  in  sight  of  other  ranges  of  low,  isolated 


324 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


mountains,  both  on  the  right  and  on  the  left.  Wady  el 
Arish  stretched  oif  far  to  the  north-west,  with  branches 
thrust  out  in  various  directions,  so  as  to  create  the  impres¬ 
sion  of  a  long,  wide  plain,  full  of  scattered  herbage  and 
shrubs.  At  ten  o’clock  we  entered  it  once  more,  and  found 
its  bed  marked  by  tamarisks.  The  hills  or  mountains  in 
sight  seemed  composed  of  nearly  horizontal  strata  of  rock, 
covered  more  or  less  with  sand,  and  terminating  abruptly 
on  all  sides.  Smooth  limestone  strata  occasionally  came  to 
the  surface  along  the  way  we  travelled,  although  commonly 
covered  with  sand  and  small  hard  stones.  Where  we  had 
camped  the  night  previous  it  had  been  a  matter  of  some 
search  to  find  a  place  with  soil  deep  enough  to  hold  our  tent- 
pins  in  case  of  a  breeze.  All  the  indications  were  of  a  vast 
limestone  plateau,  which  in  the  course  of  ages  the  elements 
had  gradually  worn  away,  leaving  ranges  and  isolated  banks 
undisturbed,  and  a  moderate  covering  of  hard  arid  soil  on 
the  plain.  At  half-past  ten  we  passed  a  singular  conical  hill, 
crowned  with  a  fortress-like  rock,  perhaps  four  hundred  feet 
in  height.  Twenty  minutes  later  we  left  Wady  el  Arish,  but 
could  still  trace  it  as  far  as  we  could  see  to  the  north-west, 
by  its  tamarisks  and  other  vegetation.  Our  own  route 
through  the  day  varied  from  north-north-east  to  east-north¬ 
east.  Every  little  depression  where  the  water  could  lie  for 
a  time  was  lined  with  herbage. 

At  noon  we  turned  almost  due  east  by  a  gradual  ascent 
(Nugb  Haret)  between  two  low  ranges  of  hills,  reaching  the 
summit  in  fifteen  minutes,  and  the  foot  on  the  other  side 
in  ten  minutes  more.  Here  we  turned  north-east  again. 
Twenty  minutes  more  brought  us  to  Wady  el  Aujaneh, 
which  came  from  the  south-east,  a  third  of  a  mile  wide,  well 
filled  with  retems  and  tamarisks.  We  followed  it  north¬ 
ward  for  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes,  and  passed  from  it 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


325 


as  it  bore  away  to  the  left.  In  another  hour  we  crossed  a 
branch  wady,  which  joined  Aujaneh  west  of  us,  and  an  hour 
later  another  wady  (Etrakeh)  a  mile  in  breadth.  Ascending 
a  high  plateau  at  six  o’clock,  we  came  in  sight  of  Nuklil, 
still  an  hour  distant.  It  was  now  the  dragoman’s  turn  to 
hold  back,  because,  he  said,  we  should  be  so  late  for  our 
dinner  and  arrangements  for  the  night :  but  we  pushed  on. 
The  wind  blew  raw  and  chilly.  At  seven  o’clock  we  rode 
up  to  the  fortress,  weary,  hungry,  and  cold.  The  governor, 
a  seedy-looking  personage  in  slippers,  a  blue  coat,  and  red 
trousers,  imperfectly  buttoned,  received  us  in  the  guard- 
room.  Here  an  attendant  kept  up  a  brisk  fire  of  brush¬ 
wood,  the  smoke  of  which  gave  no  additional  blackness  to 
the  walls,  while  it  filled  our  eyes  with  tears,  and  partly  es¬ 
caped,  in  a  leisurely  way,  by  the  hole  in  the  great  door 
through  which  we  had  entered.  The  governor  soon  treated 
us  with  muddy  coffee,  in  small  cups,  then  drew  his  chi¬ 
bouque  from  his  mouth  and  offered  it  to  me.  I  took  his 
coffee,  and  after  bringing  his  pipe  near  my  mouth,  in  token 
of  amity,  returned  it  to  his  red-legged  highness.  Meanwhile 
our  servants  and  caravan  arrived,  and  our  cook,  by  omitting 
(at  our  suggestion)  the  soup,  for  the  first  and  last  time  upon 
the  journey,  hurried  up  our  dinner  at  nine  o’clock.  We 
soon  after  retired,  and  slept  a  long,  sound,  and  dreamless 
sleep,  thanks  to  the  excellent  digestion  of  the  camel-ride 
and  the  desert. 

The  morning  of  March  6th  was  cold  and  raw,  the  ther¬ 
mometer  at  thirty-eight  degrees.  The  dragoman  was  nego¬ 
tiating  and  ostensibly  pushing  arrangements  for  our  depart¬ 
ure.  Another  set  of  fowls  were  complaining  of  rough  usage 
as  they  entered  our  coop,  and  fresh  omelet  for  breakfast 
indicated  a  supply  of  eggs.  But  Joseph  talked  dubiously 
about  getting  promptly  away.  The  camels  were  far  off,  and 


326 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


there  were  various  difficulties.  AVe  had  a  suspicion  that  he 
was  at  first  in  no  extraordinary  haste;  but  apparently  he 
became  so  harassed  by  the  band  of  extortioners,  into  whose 
hands  we  had  for  the  first  time  fallen,  that  lie  was  eventu¬ 
ally  as  earnest  as  we  to  depart.  But  there  was  no  prospect 
of  it  to-day.  We  had  more  than  ample  opportunity  to  look 
around  the  place. 

Kala‘at  USTukhl  (the  “fortress  of  the  palm”)  is  a  square 
fortress  standing  on  high  ground  in  the  midst  of  a  desert 
plain,  which  Burckhardt  rather  improbably  conjectures  to 
have  been  once  covered  with  palm-trees.  A  few  palms  by 
the  well  are  all  that  we  can  reasonably  suppose  to  have  been 
here,  and  not  one  is  now  to  be  seen.  At  the  south  of  the 
fort,  outside,  are  a  few  mud-built  huts,  out  of  which  lean 
and  cowardly  dogs  rushed  and  barked  furiously,  and  to 
which  they  hastily  retreated  before  the  stone  or  stick,  to 
bark  still  from  the  top  of  the  hut.  The  fort  is  manned  by 
a  small  body  of  soldiers,  in  the  ordinary  dirty  Arab  dress. 
Two  of  them  were  found  necessary  to  guard  our  tents  by 
night,  a  package  of  biscuits  and  a  tent-cord  having  disap¬ 
peared  soon  after  our  arrival.  The  guard  served  also  as  a 
basis  for  additional  levies  upon  the  dragoman.  Close  by 
the  fort,  on  the  east,  are  three  large  water-tanks,  one  of 
them  measuring  about  ninety  feet  by  forty-five,  the  others 
each  about  thirty  feet  square.  The  water  stood  just  twelve 
feet  deep  in  the  largest  and  one  of  the  smaller  tanks.  They 
were  supplied  from  a  deep  wTell  inside  the  fort,  where  some 
creaking  machinery,  turned  by  donkeys,  wTas  steadily  pump¬ 
ing.  A  few  rods  east  of  the  tanks  is  a  well  fourteen  feet  in 
diameter,  containing  six  feet  of  water,  the  surface  of  which 
was  forty-four  feet  below  the  mouth  of  the  well.  The 
stones  are  well  worn  by  ropes.  Besides  these  things,  or  in¬ 
cluding  them,  all  is  desolation,  even  the  water  in  the  reser- 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


327 


voirs  having  an  unpleasant,  dirty  look.  But  the  fact  that  a 
well  fifty  feet  deep  contains  six  feet  of  water  in  this  un¬ 
promising  region,  taken  in  connection  with  the  other  oc¬ 
casional  wells  in  the  peninsula,  is  suggestive  of  what  re¬ 
sources  even  such  regions  offer  to  an  energetic  leader,  if  not 

to  an  indolent  Turk  or  mercurial  Arab.  One  is  instantly 

«/ 

reminded  of  that  passage  in  Numbers  (xxi.  17,  18)  which 
flashes  forth  like  a  streak  of  sunlight  from  the  compressed 
history  of  forty  years — a  passage  which  even  Ewald  ascribes 
to  the  time  of  Moses.2 

The  next  day  (March  7th)  was  a  day  of  hinderance  and 
annoyance.  The  dragoman  spent  the  day  ostensibly  in  en¬ 
deavoring  to  settle  with  Sheikh  Selim  for  the  past,  and  to 
arrange  with  the  new  sheikh  for  the  future.  Selim  had 
been,  according  to  Joseph’s  statement,  exacting  additional 
money  on  the  way,  and  was  now  refusing  to  give  his  receipt. 
He  was  also  charged  with  stealing  provisions.  A  complaint 
to  the  effendi  had  secured  only  his  temporary  arrest;  for, 
as  Joseph  alleged,  Selim,  on  paying  the  effendi  more  money 
than  Joseph  did,  was  released.  Meanwhile  no  progress 
could  be  made  in  anything,  and  Joseph  came  to  us  in  deep 
despair.  How  much  of  his  despair  was  for  dramatic  effect 
on  us,  of  course  can  never  be  known.  But  it  became  evident 
that  he  was  in  the  power  of  the  leeches,  and  that,  willing  as 
lie  might  be  to  prolong  the  journey,  he  was  more  anxious  to 
escape  from  Nukhl. 

So  we  concluded  to  extemporize  a  little  scene.  I  laid  on 
the  table  of  my  tent  the  sextant  and  azimuth  compass  which 
had  been  kindly  lent  us  in  Cairo  by  General  Stone,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Khedive,  together  with  our  passports  and  a 
personal  letter  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 


2  Geschichte.von  Israel,  ii.  2 


32S 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


consuls  and  ambassadors,  furnished  me  before  leaving  home. 
We  seated  ourselves  around,  and  requested  the  company  of 
the  effendi.  He  came,  and  with  him  the  military  governor. 
We  invited  them  to  be  seated,  while  the  dragoman  stood  in 
the  august  presence  as  interpreter.  What  rhetorical  embel¬ 
lishments  may  have  accompanied  my  French  as  it  was  trans¬ 
ferred  into  desert  Arabic,  I  can  only  conjecture.  But  the 
dragoman’s  feelings  and  capacities  were  evidently  equal  to 
the  occasion.  I  asked  the  effendi  if  he  saw  those  instru¬ 
ments,  and  he  rose  with  an  appearance  of  the  profoundest 
interest  and  curiosity  to  take  a  nearer  view,  looked  them  all 
over,  and  replied  that  lie  did.  I  then  stated  to  him  that  the 
instruments  belonged  to  his  Highness  the  Khedive  (here 
he  looked  deeply  attentive  again);  that  they  had  been  in¬ 
trusted  to  me  for  the  journey  by  the  etat-major,  General 
Stone,  to  whom  I  was  to  return  them  with  a  report  of  our 
journey ;  and  that,  if  he  failed  to  secure  justice  to  the  drago¬ 
man,  or  hindered  us  on  our  way,  I  should  certainly  report 
his  conduct  at  head-quarters.  Other  remarks  accompanying 
were  evidently  rendered  by  Joseph  with  much  alacrity  and 
freedom,  if  we  could  judge  from  the  number  of  his  words. 
The  effendi  listened  with  the  same  appearance  of  absorbed 
interest  to  the  close,  professed  the  most  earnest  desire  to 
please  us,  and  departed  to  enter  on  his  labors  with  Selim. 
Not  long  afterward,  as  I  drew  near  where  they  were  in  con¬ 
ference,  he  evidently  saw  me  first,  for  he  rose  with  great 
zeal  from  his  seat  and  gesticulated  vigorously  in  Selim’s 
face.  After  more  talk,  and  a  second  confinement  of  the 
sheikh,  the  receipt  was  forthcoming.  The  effendi  also  un¬ 
questionably  bestirred  himself  in  other  ways  to  facilitate  our 
journey,  and  the  prospect  brightened  for  our  departure  next 
day.  But  Joseph  managed  to  let  us  know  that  the  irrever¬ 
ent  rogue  relieved  himself,  on  his  departure  from  our  tent, 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


329 


by  the  remark  that  he  was  governor  here.  But  any  private 
reflections  of  his  upon  the  authority  of  the  Khedive  did  not 
lie  in  our  province  to  resent.  We  were  satisfied  we  had 
handsomely  represented  the  supreme  power,  so  far  as  our 
responsibility  extended. 

March  8th.-+- It  seemed  to  be  fully  arranged  last  night 
that  we  should  proceed  this  morning.  But  the  morning 
brought  its  complications.  We  were  now  to  be  in  charge 
of  the  Tiyahali  tribe  of  Bedouin,  a  much  wilder  and  fiercer 
race  than  the  Towarah,  who  had  hitherto  conducted  us,  and 
had  proved  as  mild  as  lambs.  The  head  sheikh  of  the  whole 
tribe,  Mislih,  who  had  at  length  made  his  appearance,  was 
a  swarthy  personage  of  sinister  look,  and  apparently  of 
dogged,  domineering  spirit,  fully  conscious  of  his  great  im¬ 
portance.  Joseph  afterward  informed  us,  with  a  kind  of 
awe,  that  he  was  a  fierce  fellow,  and  had  even  been  known 
to  strike  a  dragoman.  Joseph  evidently  stood  in  fear  of 
him,  and  of  the  whole  tribe  he  represented. 

We  were  very  desirous  of  setting  out  in  good  season,  and 
had  pressed  the  importance  of  it  with  reference  to  our  plans, 
although  well  aware  of  the  inveterate  Arab  habit  of  making 
a  short  journey  the  first  day.  But  everything  hung  fire. 
Through  the  whole  morning  nothing  was  done  but  dawd¬ 
ling,  and  chattering,  and  scolding,  and  rushing  hither  and 
thither.  The  camels  at  length  made  their  appearance  from 
the  desert,  but  there  was  no  loading.  A  knot  of  Arabs 
stood  a  few  rods  away,  howling  and  gesticulating  till  it  be¬ 
came  unendurable.  At  length  one  of  our  company,  out  of 
all  patience,  and  forgetting  the  difference  between  a  Tiya- 
hah  and  a  Towarah,  rushed  to  the  group,  seized  the  nearest 
Arab,  whose  back  was  toward  him,  gave  him  two  vigorous 
pushes,  and  told  him  to  “imshee”  for  the  camels.  The 
man  whirled  about  It  was  the  great  sheikh  Mislih.  He 


330 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


turned  dirty-white  and  speechless  with  rage.  For  one  mo¬ 
ment  it  was  difficult  to  conjecture  what  he  would  not  do. 
The  next  moment  he  stalked  furiously  straight  out  upon  the 
desert,  declaring  he  would  not  go  with  us  at  all.  Here  was 
an  Arab  scene  with  real  wrath  in  it.  The  effendi  and  the 
military  governor  hastened  after  the  enraged  Mislih,  twined 
their  arms  with  his,  one  on  each  side,  and  after  much  per¬ 
suasion  led  him  slowly  back,  the  military  man  soothing  him 
occasionally  by  a  kiss  upon  his  lips.  The  dragoman  came 
excitedly  up  to  say  that  we  had  pushed  the  chief  sheikh. 
At  length  the  two  attendants  brought  the  sheikh  to  where  I 
was,  and  informed  him  that  I  was  the  “Abu”  of  the  party. 
I  drew  near  and  gazed  on  Mislih  with  the  same  affectionate 
interest  with  which  the  effendi  had  looked  upon  the  Khe¬ 
dive’s  instruments,  inquired  earnestly  if  that  was  the  sheikh, 
and,  on  being  assured  that  it  was  even  so,  expressed  my  de¬ 
light  at  making  his  acquaintance,  and  proffered  him,  in  oc¬ 
cidental  style,  my  hand,  which  he  took,  and  we  had  a  zeal¬ 
ous  shaking.  I  said  nothing  of  the  indignity  he  had  sus¬ 
tained,  though  I  knew  not  what  apologies  Joseph  might  have 
made  in  mv  name,  but  soon  went  and  sat  down  on  my  va- 
lise,  to  await  composedly  the  current  of  events.  After  a 
little  the  great  sheikh  came  to  say  that  he  would  go  with 
me  j  and  again  fortune  seemed  to  favor. 

Still,  there  was  further  delay.  A  huge  camel,  selected 
for  his  strength  to  carry  the  water-casks,  proved  as  furious 
as  the  sheikh,  and  more  permanently  so.  He  was  clearly  a 
Tiyahah  camel ;  for,  after  a  prodigious  growling,  he  sprang 
up  in  a  frenzy,  dashed  round,  scattering  the  Arabs  right  and 
left,  and  finally  shook  off  his  load.  He  proved  victorious, 
and  another  was  substituted.  Then  came  trouble  between 
the  dragoman  and  the  effendi.  After  the  former  had  paid 
all  the  exorbitant  charges,  and,  with  much  delay,  had  a  con- 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


331 


tract  drawn  and  sealed,  he  could  not  get  possession  of  the 
document.  He  had  paid  a  napoleon  for  drawing  it  up,  but 
the  effendi  demanded  two  pounds.  We  were  all  mounted, 
ready  to  ride  off,  when  Joseph  came  and  stated  this  his  lat¬ 
est  grievance.  We  offered  to  halt  and  worry  the  matter 
through  for  him.  But  he  declared  himself  so  glad  to  get 
away  that  he  would  rather  run  his  risk  without  the  instru¬ 
ment  than  stay  longer  in  such  a  place.  It  was  difficult  not 
to  agree  with  him,  and  not  easy  to  conceive  of  a  more  unde¬ 
sirable  place  for  a  sojourn.  Here  wTas  a  set  of  rogues, 
clothed  with  some  authority,  far  away  from  control,  and 
eking  out  their  scanty  subsistence  by  extortions  upon  trav¬ 
ellers.  The  new  set  of  Arabs  into  whose  charge  we  were 
now  taken,  appeared  like  a  more  vigorous,  noisier,  fiercer 
company  than  the  former,  but  it  was  a  relief  to  get  away 
even  with  them.  They  proved,  however,  to  be  kind  and 
trusty.  The  slippery  member  of  the  company  was  their 
leader.  After  the  collision  with  Sheikh  Mislih,  it  was  rather 
a  relief  to  find  that  we  were  to  be  under  the  personal  con¬ 
duct  of  his  younger  brother,  Sheikh  Suleiman,  the  same  of 
whom  Mr.  Palmer  speaks  in  many  respects  so  highly. 

Suleiman  was  certainly  a  fine-looking  Arab,  slender  and 
graceful,  with  a  bright  countenance,  a  clear  eye,  and  a  fine 
black  beard.  He  showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  character 
and  decision  by  his  command  over  his  men,  and  a  man  of 
determination  by  his  attempts  to  control  us.  We  were  re¬ 
lieved  of  much  of  his  “painful”  politeness  by  our  inability 
to  converse  with  him  except  through  an  interpreter,  and  by 
certain  direct  collisions  of  authority  that  speedily  occurred 
between  us,  in  which  he  was  as  passionate  and  petulant  as  a 
child,  and  finally  as  submissive.  He  was  evidently  aware  of 
his  fine  personal  appearance,  and  was  more  picturesquely, 
expensively,  and  tastefully  dressed  than  any  Bedouin  I  have 


332 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


seen.  He  looked  and  appeared  like  an  Arab  gentleman 
with  a  tinge  of  foppishness.  lie  wore  an  elegantly  wrought 
abbah ,  and  a  striking  though  not  gaudy  hufiyeh ,  which  finely 
set  off  his  contemplative  face.  He  carried  a  sword  that  had 
belonged  to  his  father  and  his  grandfather,  which,  however, 
in  the  ardor  of  his  growing  friendship,  he  once  begged  me 
to  accept  as  a  present,  but  which  I  declined,  because  I  could 
not  think  of  taking  such  a  precious  heirloom ;  and,  more¬ 
over,  because  I  could  not  think  of  making  the  expected  re¬ 
turn.  lie  also  had  an  English  revolver,  a  present,  he  said, 
from  Mr.  Palmer,  for  which  he  soon  began  to  beg  cartridges 
from  us  ;  but  fortunatelv  ours  would  not  lit.  He  had  a  love 
of  good  eating,  greatly  preferring  European  cookery  to  the 
hard  fare  of  the  desert.  And  as  Joseph  Tamms  stood  much 
in  awe  of  him,  and  desired  earnestly  to  conciliate  him, 
Suleiman  imposed  himself  on  Joseph  for  many  a  lunch  and 
fragment  of  a  good  dinner.  They  were  intimate  at  meal¬ 
times,  and  ate  much  salt  together. 

We  were  introduced  to  Suleiman  first  just  as  we  joyfully 
bid  good-bye  to  the  fortress,  at  a  quarter  after  eleven  o’clock, 
the  earliest  possible  moment.  We  struck  into  a  barren 
plain  of  clayey  sand  ploughed  by  the  winds.  In  an  hour  we 
entered  once  more  the  great  Wady  el  Arisli,  marked  by  its 
usual  retems  and  tamarisks,  which  we  followed  an  hour  and 
three-fourths,  left  it  for  a  short  time,  and  then  re-entered  it, 
where,  probably  by  reason  of  recent  rains,  it  was  fuller  of 
vegetation  than  I  had  seen  it  before. 

Sheikh  Suleiman  early  began  to  show  his  disposition  to 
control  our  movements.  When  we  set  out  from  Nuklil,  we 
started  our  camels,  as  usual,  a  little  in  advance  of  the  cara¬ 
van.  In  a  few  minutes  he  overtook  us,  and  said  something: 
to  the  dragoman,  who  informed  us  that  the  sheikh  said  we 
must  keep  with  the  caravan.  Supposing  that  it  might  be  a 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


333 


necessary  precaution  in  an  unsafe  region,  though  I  did  not 
like  the  phraseology  of  the  communication,  we  slackened  out¬ 
pace.  At  lunch-time  the  sheikh  joined  the  dragoman  while 
we  were  eating,  and  apparently  came  in  for  his  share  of 
the  spoils.  Here  the  company  passed  us  and  moved  slowly 
onward,  and  the  sheikh  afterward  rode  .along  by  our  side. 
At  about  four  o’clock,  as  we  neared  another  green  wady,  he 
suddenly  left  us  and  rode  rapidly  to  join  the  caravan.  We 
saw  that  he  was  directing  the  Arabs  to  unload.  As  we  had 
started  late  in  the  day,  and  had  made  but  little  more  than 
four  hours  of  travel,  we  had  agreed  at  lunch-time  to  ride 
another  hour.  Here  seemed  to  be  a  e;ood  chance  to  settle 
the  question  of  authority.  I  hastened  forward  and  directed 
the  dragoman  to  stop  the  unloading.  The  sheikh  made 
some  short  reply,  and  the  work  went  on.  We  told  Joseph 
to  tell  him  we  did  not  choose  to  halt  so  early.  The  drago¬ 
man  replied  for  Suleiman  that  it  was  “la  regie”  (the  rule  to 
encamp  here).  “  But,”  I  replied,  “  we  have  been  hindered 
all  the  mornino-  and  we  cannot  end  our  dav’s  travel  vet.” 

o  ✓  *J 

“Mais,  monsieur,  il  dit  que  c’est  la  regie.”  “Tell  him,  Jo¬ 
seph,  that  we  shall  not  follow  any  such  rule,  but  shall  choose 
our  own  camp-ground,  and  we  will  not  halt  so  early.”  The 
unloading  still  went  vigorously  on.  “  Joseph,”  said  I,  “  tell 
Sheikh  Suleiman  that  he  is  not  our  master,  but  our  servant, 
and  we  will  not  encamp  here.”  In  whatever  phraseology 
he  may  have  couched  the  remark,  the  sheikh  grew  furious, 
and,  as  I  was  told,  put  his  hand  to  his  sword,  and  made  no 
sign  of  yielding.  I  did  not  see  it.  For  we  looked  away, 
and  after  an  instant’s  consultation,  in  which  we  were  per¬ 
fectly  agreed,  we  resolutely  turned  our  camels  forward  on 
the  very  discernible  track  we  had  been  following,  and  pushed 
on.  The  question  was  settled.  A  hurried  glance  over  my 
shoulder,  a  few  minutes  later,  detected  Joseph  following  us; 


334: 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


for  according  to  our  written  contract  lie  dared  not  do  other¬ 
wise.  He  in  turn  was  followed  by  the  sturdy  Ibrahim  and 
the  solemn  cook,  while  the  Arabs  were  sullenly  readjusting 
the  burdens  which  they  had  begun  to  unbind.  Everything 
was  at  length  in  motion  behind  us.  After  a  short  distance, 
Suleiman  sent  us  word  requesting  as  a  favor  that  we  would 
halt,  because  he  had  engaged  to  meet  his  brother  in  this 
vicinity,  and  because  it  was  necessary  in  order  to  find  food 
for  the  camels.  As  we  did  not  know  but  one  or  both  of 
these  statements  might  be  true,  as  the  dragoman  was  very 
solicitous  to  please  him,  and  as  we  had  thoroughly  asserted 
our  rights,  we  replied  that  we  would  grant  his  request,  but 
should  always  decide  upon  our  camping-ground.  AVe  were 
the  more  willing  to  do  so  because  one  of  our  number  was 
not  feeling  well. 

Sunday,  which  we  spent  here,  was  a  day  of  delightful  rest, 
enhanced  by  our  recent  escape  from  the  turmoil  of  Nukhl. 
Hot  far  away  the  water  still  stood  in  some  places  in  a  chan¬ 
nel,  and  there  was  young  grass  of  some  size. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


335 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING—  Continued. 

We  had  planned  and  arranged,  in  compensation  for  our 
early  halt  on  Saturday,  to  leave  camp  on  Monday  morning 
(March  9tli)  at  half-past  six;  but  the  Arabs  made  it  half¬ 
past  seven.  Quite  early  (at  6.30)  the  thermometer  indicated 
thirty  and  one-half  degrees,  the  lowest  point  we  had  seen. 
We  set  forth  over  a  vast  plain,  which  at  intervals  showed 
lines  of  vegetation  running  across  it.  In  one  region,  for  a 
considerable  distance,  the  limestone  came  to  the  surface. 
Before  nine  o’clock  we  had  crossed  two  wadies,  at  nine 
Wady  Aggab,  and  at  10.25  a  fourth  wady,  all  moderately 
well  supplied  with  herbs. 

Already  we  had  fallen  into  the  region  of  ancient  remains. 
At  Wady  el  Aggab,  only  six  hours  north  of  Nuklil,  on  a  low 
ridge,  are  found  a  great  number  of  those  sepulchral  cairns, 
concerning  which  history  is  wanting  and  conjecture  is  at 
fault.  They  are  about  four  feet  high,  and  of  various  diame¬ 
ters  up  to  twenty  feet.  It  was  along  here,  too,  that  Palmer 
and  Drake  found,  in  the  bed  of  Wady  Arish,  in  a  cut  eight 
feet  below  the  surface  of  the  wady,  remains  of  a  charcoal 

t/  ' 

fire  and  of  a  little  hearth  of  stones,  telling  of  some  other 
unwritten  scenes  of  the  past.  At  eleven  we  descended  a 
steep  declivity,  and  saw  before  us  another  great  expanse  of 
desert,  crossed  in  like  manner  with  lines  of  vegetation.  We 
repeatedly  entered  and  left  Wady  Ikhrimm,  or  Fahdi,  a 
large  and  comparatively  fertile  depression,  running  north- 


336 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ward.  Just  after  eleven  o’clock  we  had  a  noticeable  speci¬ 
men  of  mirage.  We  saw,  as  we  thought,  directly  before  ns, 
two  broad  lines  of  water  waving  in  the  gentle  breeze.  Not 
prepared  for  the  sight  of  water,  I  doubted  at  first  whether  it 
could  be  so,  but  at  length  three  of  ns  became  absolutely  con¬ 
fident  it  was  water.  The  fourth  as  positively  insisted  that  it 
was  not,  but  was  almost,  if  not  quite,  persuaded  out  of  his  con¬ 
viction.  In  five  minutes  we  found  that  there  was  not  a  drop 
of  water  to  be  seen.  The  same  deceptive  appearance  then 
extended  itself  in  various  directions,  before  and  around  ns. 

In  the  afternoon  we  came  to  Wady  Garaiyeh,  and  were 
forty  minutes  in  crossing  it.  Near  this  spot  Mr.  Palmer 
had  seen  one  hundred  and  fifty  milch-camels  feeding,  as  he 
struck  off  south-easterly,  following  the  wady  some  twenty 
miles,  to  Contellet  Garaiyeh.  The  region,  we  observed,  was 
more  hilly  in  that  direction,  already  beginning  to  rise  into 
the  higher  elevations,  which  continued  to  increase  north¬ 
ward,  but  which,  however,  on  our  line  of  travel,  we  did  not 
enter  till  the  next  day.  It  was  on  this  same  parallel,  on  the 
summit  of  the  hills  at  Contellet  Garaiyeh,  that  he  discovered 
foundations  of  an  ancient  wall  of  sun-dried  bricks,  in  which 
were  fragments  of  large  jars  that  had  been  built  into  the 
wall  in  sets  of  four  each.  And,  what  is  very  remarkable,  in 
a  region  where  now,  for  many  miles,  not  a  tree  is  to  be  seen, 
the  walls  also  contained  beams  of  wood  bearing  indications 
of  mortices.  In  the  neighborhood  were  dry  wells,  or  reser¬ 
voirs,  two  of  them  apparently  old,  which  are  filled  in  times 
of  heavy  rains.  It  is  not  without  reason  that  he  would 
recognize  in  this  place  the  Gypsaria  of  the  Peutinger  tables.1 
He  found  on  the  hard  plain,  on  the  way,  a  few  stone  circles, 
and  at  the  western  foot  of  Jebel  Araif,  other  stone  circles 


1  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  423. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING , 


337 


(sepulchral),  and  not  very  far  away,  remains  of  a  very  large 
collection  of  dwellings  of  the  same  antiquity.  Still  other 
rude  stone  remains  are  scattered  upon  various  hills  and 
ridges  around. 

These  elevations  and  remains  we  left  on  our  right,  as  we 
followed  the  wadies  Fahdi  and  Sheraif.  But  it  is  neces¬ 
sary,  for  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  country  and  its 
possible  history,  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  indications  of 
former  human  occupancy  had  already  commenced,  and  that 
they  now  continued,  along  the  elevations,  and  in  some  of 
the  wadies,  in  almost  continuous  succession,  and  in  increas¬ 
ing  abundance  and  completeness,  from  a  point  in  the  desert 
less  than  fifty  miles  north-east  of  Huklil,  up  to  and  through 
the  South  Country,  and  on  to  Palestine.  I  shall  have  occa¬ 
sion  to  specify  them  as  I  pass  along.  It  was  at  this  point 
which  we  had  now  reached  that  Robinson’s  route,  coming 
from  xkkaba,  joined  our  own,  to  go  northward. 

Soon  after  crossing  Wady  Garaiyeh  we  came  to  Wady 
Mayin,  in  some  places  two  miles  wide,  which  stretches  off 
eastward,  and  sweeps  by  the  northern  side  of  Jebel  Araif  to 
the  high  plateau  beyond  it.  Up  in  this  wady,  north-east  of 
the  mountain,  according  to  the  Arabs,  are  the  wells  of 
Mayin,  containing  excellent  water.  When  we  approached 
that  wady,  Suleiman  insisted  at  once  that  we  should  en¬ 
camp,  declaring  that  otherwise  we  should  find  no  fit  place 
till  midnight.  As  these  vexatious  delays  were  threatening 
to  interfere  with  all  our  plans  in  advance,  we  determined  not 
to  submit  to  them.  We  told  him  we  were  not  readv  to  halt, 
and  moved  on.  He  acted  like  a  passionate  boy.  Putting 
his  dromedary  to  full  speed,  he  rode  furiously  by  us,  shak¬ 
ing  his  stick  and  vociferating  fiercely  as  he  went.  I  asked 
the  dragoman  what  he  said,  and  learned  that  he  declared 

he  would  not  go  with  such  a  man  as  I.  We  told  the  drag- 

22" 


33S 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


oman  to  tell  him  once  more  that  we  should  choose  our  own 
ground.  He  soon  cooled  off,  and  went  sullenly  along.  We 
proceeded  another  mile  or  more,  when,  having  settled  the 
question  of  command,  and  being  not  without  apprehension 
that  his  statements  concerning  a  camping-ground  might 
prove  true  (as  they  did  not),  we  concluded  to  halt.  Three 
ibexes  stood  quietly  on  the  place  we  designated.  As  we 
approached,  they  gave  us  one  long  scrutinizing  look,  made 
a  dash,  and  were  out  of  sight.  The  sheikh  was  as  sullen 
as  a  half-whipped  child,  and  averred  that  he  would  now  go 
on  till  midnight.  But  he  gave  us  no  trouble. 

This  Wady  Mayin,  as  already  remarked,  extends  far  to 
the  north-east.  When  Robinson  reached  this  place,  having 
passed  around  south-west  of  the  foot  of  Jebel  Araif,  he  was 
confident,  from  the  mountainous  nature  of  the  range  lying 
north,  impassable  for  any  considerable  road,  and  rendering 
necessary  a  curve  around  Araif,  that  he  must  here  have 
struck  the  line  of  the  ancient  Roman  (western)  road  from 
Akaba  to  Jerusalem.  He  could  find,  however,  no  trace 
of  ancient  names;  but,  on  passing  into  Wady  Lussan,  just 
north  of  Wady  Mayin  and  north-west  of  Jebel  Araif,  he  saw 
remains  of  rude  walls  and  foundations,  which  he  afterward 
conjectured  to  be  substructions  of  ancient  Lysa.  He  was  a 
little  embarrassed  by  his  erroneous  supposition  that  Eboda 
was  to  be  found  at  El  Aujeli  instead  of  Abdeli.  It  re¬ 
mained  for  Mr.  Palmer  to  discover  on  the  liill-side  adjoin¬ 
ing  Wady  Lussan  a  main  road  direct  to  Akaba  along  that 
wady,  traceable  for  a  long  distance  by  camel-tracks,  and 
numerous  heaps  of  stones  placed  to  mark  the  way.  He  also 
found  a  large  number  of  stone  cairns  on  the  neighboring 
hills,  and  in  Wady  Lussan  itself  signs  of  former  cultivation, 
including  dams  across  the  valley,  and  long  terrace-walls  on 
the  liill-sides,  which  indicate  a  far  higher  civilization  than 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


339 


belongs  to  any  present  occupant  of  ,the  region.  There  were 
also  ruins  of  a  dwelling-house,  a  cistern,  and  a  granary,  and 
pieces  of  fluted  pottery.  The  distances  in  each  direction 
afford  good  reason  to  believe  that  here  was  the  Lysa  of  the 
Peutinger  tables.  It  was  not  quite  in  sight  from  our  camp, 
but  lay  directly  east. 

On  the  morning  of  March  10th  we  set  out  a  few  minutes 
after  eight.  On  the  way  we  passed  various  good  camping- 
grounds,  and  I  had  a  conversation  with  Suleiman  concern¬ 
ing  his  statement  the  night  before,  intimating  also  that  I 
was  aware  of  his  methods  with  Mr.  Palmer.  The  effect 
was  salutary  and  humbling.  All  day  he  was  excessively 
good-natured  and  attentive.  In  the  afternoon  he  came  to 
inquire  where  I  proposed  to  halt,  and,  on  being  informed, 
was  greatly  delighted,  exclaiming,  “  Tayib  !” 

At  ten  o’clock  we  entered  Wady  Sheraif,  and  were  an 
hour  and  a  half  in  passing  somewhat  diagonally  through  it. 
Vegetation  was  scattered  nearly  throughout  its  whole  ex¬ 
tent.  Slight  showers  came  up  repeatedly,  but  passed  away 
as  soon  as  we  had  made  preparations  for  them. 

Our  route  lay  east  of  Jebel  Sheraif,  and  we  soon  left  Je- 
bel  Ifellal  still  farther  away  to  the  west.  At  two  o’clock, 
after  a  halt  of  forty-five  minutes,  we  came  to  Wady  Lus- 
san,  and  were  an  hour  in  crossing  it.  We  could  see  with 
our  glasses  where  the  ruins  lay,  at  some  distance  to  the 
right.  In  twenty  minutes  we  entered  another  wady  (Sei- 
sab)  in  which  the  tarfa,  retem,  and  ghurkhud  abounded, 
and  the  tarfa -roots  showed  themselves  at  the  surface,  or 
where  the  water  had  worn  away  the  soil,  twenty  or  thirty 
feet  from  the  tree,  as  large  as  the  thumb.  Here,  for  the 
first  time,  I  saw  large  drifts  of  sand  lying  along  the  path, 
and  was  caught  in  a  little  whirlwind  filled  with  it. 

At  four  o’clock  we  crossed  Wady  Jaifeli,  and  at  five  we 


340 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


reached  Wady  Muweileh,  and  halted  for  the  night.  We 
found  the  wady  singularly  rich  in  flowers,  beyond  any  that 
we  had  seen,  and  we  gathered  many  different  kinds.  It. 
was  evident  that  we  were  passing,  or  had  even  passed,  from 
the  desert  proper  into  a  better  region.  We  might  fairly 
reckon  this  as  the  transition  to  the  Negeb,  or  South  Coun¬ 
try.  Mr.  Bonar  had  noticed  along  the  way  we  travelled 
that  “  the  verdure  was  on  the  increase,”  especially  after 
passing  Wady  Jaifeli,  “  and  we  seemed  to  be  getting  to 
transition  ground.  We  met  with  many  plants  of  the  bul¬ 
bous  kind.”2  The  only  descriptive  remark  which  Strauss 
makes  concerning  the  journey  of  three  days  from  Nukhl  is, 
that  on  the  third  day  “  the  vegetation  had  decidedly  in¬ 
creased  ;  herbs,  blades  of  grass,  shrubs,  covered  the  soil  in 
greater  abundance  and  freshness.”3  Bob  in  son  says  of  Wady 
Muzeirah,  which  runs  south-west  into  Wady  Lussan,  “This 
whole  basin  was  full  of  shrubs  and  vegetation,  and  seemed 
capable  of  tillage.  Indeed,  in  several  spots  we  saw  traces 
of  rude  ploughing,  and  were  told  that  in  years  of  rain  the 
Arabs  were  accustomed  to  plough  and  sow  here.  A  thin, 
meagre  grass  was  springing  up  in  various  places.  Such 
spots  as  these  we  had  not  seen  nor  heard  of  since  passing 
Wady  Gharandel.”4  (He  did  not  go  through  Feiran.)  Bo¬ 
nar  saw  here  an  Arab  winnowing  grain  by  tossing  it  in  the 
air.  Palmer  had  seen  in  Wady  el  Arish,  a  few  hours  from 
Nukhl,  “a  patch  of  ground  cultivated  by  the  Egyptian  gar¬ 
rison”  of  that  fortress.  We  passed  along  the  edge  of  it. 

To  give  a  more  complete  notion  of  this  “  Desert  of  the 
Wandering,”  which  we  were  now  leaving,  I  will  subjoin 
the  facts  as  they  were  seen  and  recorded  by  travellers  who 
have  passed  over  other  parts  of  it. 


2  Bonar’s  Desert  of  Sinai,  p.  291. 
4  Researches,  i.  278. 


3  Strauss,  Sinai  and  Golgotha,  p.  121. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


341 


Dr.  Robinson,  early  in  April,  came  across  from  Akaba 
by  a  north-westerly  passage,  and  his  route  joined  ours  near 
Wady  Garaiyeh  on  our  second  day  after  leaving  Hukhl. 
On  rising  from  the  deep  chasm  of  the  Arabah,  or  Glior,  he 
entered  at  once  on  an  immense  plain,  almost  a  dead  level, 
presenting  now  a  surface  of  indurated  earth,  and  now  a 
tract  covered  with  pebbles  of  flint.  Various  elevations  and 
irregular  ranges  of  limestone  hills  lay  in  sight  in  different 
directions.  The  second  day  he  found  Wady  Khumileh,  a 
broad,  shallow  depression,  “  full  of  herbs  and  shrubs,”  and 
various  smaller  watercourses,  also  full  of  herbs,  giving  the 
plain  in  that  vicinity  the  appearance  of  a  tolerable  vegeta¬ 
tion,  the  more  so  on  account  of  recent  rains.  The  wadies 
here  tended  westward.  The  third  day  showed  the  same 
kind  of  plain,  the  view  north-westerly  being  terminated  by 
Jebel  Araif,  on  the  long  eastern  spur  of  which  is  a  spring 
of  living  water.  He  found  in  Wady  Gudheirah  a  pool,  the 
chief  watering-place  of  the  Arabs  in  these  parts.  A  few 
tufts  of  real  grass  were  growing  around,  and  some  very  old 
TVilh-trees.  Wady  Jeraifeh,  which  he  crossed,  showed 
“  many  low  trees  ”  (acacia  and  tamarisk),  and  was  full  of 
herbs  and  shrubs.  In  a  tributary  wady  was  “  rain-water, 
collected  in  pits.”  The  whole  region  thus  far  had  been  the 
very  picture  of  barrenness,  having  not  a  particle  of  vegeta¬ 
tion,  except  in  the  wadies.  But  in  these  the  herbage  and 
few  trees  increased  as  he  proceeded,  showing  a  better  sup¬ 
ply  of  rain.  Ilis  guides  gave  him  the  names  of  six  wadies 
and  springs  running  into  the  Arabah  from  the  western 
mountain.5  On  the  fourth  day  his  way  lay  over  a  most 
desert  tract  of  swelling  hills,  covered  with  black  flints. 
Wady  el  Ilaibekeh  was  full  of  shrubs.  As  he  rode  over 

5  They  are  (beginning  at  the  south)  El  Hendis,  El  Ghudeyan,  Esh  Sha‘ib,  El 
Jerafeh,  El  Weibeh,  El  Khurar. 


34:2 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


one  barren  flinty  tract,  in  some  spots  lie  found  “very  small 
tufts  of  grass.”  And  lie  adds  one  very  important  state¬ 
ment  :  “  Our  guides  said  that  in  those  years  when  there  is 
plenty  of  rain,  grass  springs  up  all  over  the  face  of  the  des¬ 
ert.  In  such  seasons,”  they  said,  “  the  Arab  is  king.”  This 
statement  corresponds  perfectly  with  the  observations  of 
other  travellers.  In  Wady  Garaiyeh,  Robinson  learned  of 
pits  of  rain-water,  half  a  day’s  journey  west  of  the  place 
of  his  crossing,  at  a  station  on  the  road  from  the  convent 
to  Gaza.  He  was  informed  of  the  wells  far  up  in  Wady 
May  in,  east  of  where  we  encamped ;  and  the  shallow  water¬ 
course  running  into  this  wady,  in  which  he  pitched  his  tent, 
was,  “  like  most  of  the  wadies  he  had  passed,  full  of  herbs 
and  shrubs,  offering  fine  pasturage  for  the  camels.”6  Such 
is,  in  brief,  Robinson’s  account  of  the  eastern  part  of  the 
desert. 

Russegger,  who,  in  1838,  crossed  the  desert  to  Nuklil, 
coming  from  the  peninsula  by  the  pass  of  Wursali,  found, 
on  the  second  day,  the  wells  of  Redschin,  containing  saltish 
but  not  bad  water.7  He  mentions  no  other. 

Seetzen  crossed  the  desert,  going  southward,  in  1822, 
somewhat  to  the  east  of  our  line  of  march,  and  apparently 
descending  into  the  peninsula  by  the  pass  of  Emreikheh. 
His  route,  not  always  easy  to  ascertain  by  the  names  as¬ 
signed,  passed  by  Wady  Ain,  and,  leaving  it  one  hour  to 
the  east  (a  point  at  which  his  sheikh  told  him  the  range  of 
Et  Tih  began)  touched  on  the  western  edge  of  Ivdeis  (Gadis). 
His  track  soon  diverged  from  ours  and  passed  six  hours  east 
of  Nuklil.  About  five  hours  south  of  Gadis  he  was  told  of 
a  well  or  fountain,  Ain  el  Gannas,  which  no  other  traveller 
seems  to  have  mentioned.  The  same  day,  on  reaching  the 


6  Researches,  i.  254-2'75. 


7  Reisen,  iii.  59. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


343 


highest  point  of  this  section  of  the  mountain  range,  he 
looked  forth  on  a  landscape  that  “  extended  in  every  direc¬ 
tion,  without  tree,  or  shrub,  or  a  speck  of  green.”  They  lost 
the  way  for  an  hour,  and  found  it  again  near  a  deep  rock- 
ravine,  where  there  was  a  good  supply  of  rain-water  for  the 
camels  as  well  as  for  the  journey.  They  encamped  that 
night  in  a  valley  that  furnished  many  plants  for  their  cam¬ 
els.  In  the  night  (April  1st)  a  violent  thunderstorm  overtook 
them,  and  Seetzen  sheltered  himself,  as  well  as  he  might, 
under  a  retem-bush  in  full  bloom.  Not  far  from  this  place 
they  found  a  small  barley-field.  The  journey  continued 
through  dry  wady-beds  and  between  naked  hills,  although 
they  found  a  lunching-place  among  retem-bushes.  They 
encountered  another  storm  the  same  day.  The  next  morn¬ 
ing  the  way  continued  over  a  level  region  strewn  with  flints. 
They  took  a  supply  of  water  at  the  wells  called  Bir  el  Ach- 
mar,  learning  that  for  several  days  no  more  was  to  be  found. 
At  breakfast,  an  Arab  gave  Seetzen  part  of  a  purple  mush¬ 
room  to  eat.  As  he  proceeded,  he  observed  that,  barren  as 
was  the  soil,  yet  wherever  there  were  little  depressions,  or 
slight  deposits  of  sand,  there  were  herbs,  and  frequently 
straggling  shrubs.  He  encamped  that  night  at  a  sandy 
place  where  there  were  some  plants  for  the  camels.  Next 
day  he  lunched,  at  ten  o’clock,  among  many  retems,  a  little 
later  found  a  rose  of  Jericho,  on  a  most  unfruitful  hill,  and 
at  night  camped  among  shrubs  and  bushes.  The  next  day, 
six  hours  east  of  Nukhl,  he  crossed  the  pilgrim  route,  indi¬ 
cated  by  numerous  parallel  lines  of  camel-tracks.  On  the 
following  morning  their  water  gave  out  entirely;  but  they 
soon  fell  in  with  some  Arab  herdsmen  keeping  camels,  and 
they  not  long  after  passed  through  a  region  showing  a  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  herbs  and  shrubs,  and  three  hours  later 
they  came  to  some  hills  that  afforded  excellent  pasturage. 


344 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Here  they  saw  sheep,  two  flocks  of  goats,  and  numerous 
camels,  and  here  they  encamped,  surrounded  by  thirteen 
Arab  tents.  They  found  some  bad  spring-water  at  this 
place.  Two  hours  farther  south  (next  day)  they  found,  in 
Wady  Biara  (Byar?)  wells  with  good  water,  and  here  the 
camels  drank,  the  first  time  for  six  days.  That  night  they 
encamped  among  twenty  Arab  tents,  and  the  next  day  de¬ 
scended  from  the  plateau  of  Et  Till.  It  will  be  observed 
that  Seetzen,  on  the  last  two  days,  mentions  one  spring  of 
bad  water,  and  perhaps  also  wells  of  good  water,  not  men¬ 
tioned  by  Palmer,  who  went  north  through  this  same  pass 
of  Emreikheh. 

At  the  place  where  Seetzen  crossed  the  pilgrim  route 
there  was  nothing  but  the  camel-tracks  to  mark  the  way 
over  a  naked  black  flint-stone  soil.  His  sheikh,  Sibben,  told 
him  that  the  whole  pilgrim  route,  from  Suez  to  Akaba, 
was  equally  dreary  and  desolate,  and  that  the  entire  vast 
desert  of  the  Till  mountain  chain  is  equally  wild.  Only  in 
the  rainy  season  is  the  scanty  vegetation  that  is  scattered 
over  the  sandy  depressions  of  the  surface  sought  by  the 
camels  and  goats,  driven  hither  by  the  Bedouin.  The  rain¬ 
water,  which  here  and  there  forms  little  pools,  serves  them 
and  their  cattle  for  drink.  Scarcely  does  the  rain  cease, 
and  the  warm  weather  begin,  wdien  these  pools  dry,  and  the 
region  becomes  uninhabitable.  Wells  and  fountains  are 
nowhere  found,  or,  at  most,  very  infrequently,  and  are 
chiefly  only  on  the  edge  of  this  mountain  range.  This  last 
remark  is  important.  But  it  will  presently  be  seen,  from 
the  statements  of  other  travellers,  that  this  Sibben,  who  was 
not  specially  well  acquainted  with  this  region,  somewhat 
overstated  the  condition  of  the  desert.8 


8  Reisen,  iii.  48-63. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


345 


Burckhardt,  in  August,  1812,  crossed  still  a  different  part 
of  the  desert,  at  a  different  season  of  the  year.  He  went 
south-westerly  from  Petra  to  Sinai,  entering  the  peninsula 
by  Hugh  Emreikheh.  It  took  him  an  hour  and  a  half  to  go 
diagonally  through  the  Arabah,  entering  on  the  east  side 
and  leaving  it  on  the  west  side  by  a  Wady  Gliarandel,  a  few 
miles  south  of  Petra.  The  western  mountain  barrier  was 
intersected  by  many  broad  wadies,  in  which  acacias  grew. 
It  required  another  hour  to  climb  the  western  hill,  after 
which  a  gentle  descent  brought  him  to  the  plateau.  “  W e 
had  now  before  us  an  immense  plain,  strewn  with  flint- 
stones,  in  which,  here  and  there,  rose  chains  of  hills.”  The 
next  morning  he  went  through  two  broad  wadies,  full  of 
tamarisks  and  acacias.  One  of  them  was  called  Tallia.  In 
four  hours  he  reached  Wady  Lahyaneh,  a  valley  of  great 
extent,  and  he  says  that  in  this  wilderness  the  water  collects 
in  a  multitude  of  low  places  and  wadies,  and  promotes  the 
growth  of  grass  in  winter,  while  there  is  a  great  number  of 
trees  the  whole  year  through.  In  winter,  Arabs  from  Gaza, 
Khulil,  and  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  encamp  here.  This 
Wady  Lahyaneh  is  on  the  road  from  Gaza  to  Akaba.  The 
journey  he  gives  as  eight  days,  and  the  watering-places,  El 
Themmed,  El  Mayin,  El  Birein.9  In  this  wady  Burckhardt 
encountered  a  pair  of  poor  tentless  Arabs,  who  had  come 
hither  to  feed  their  camels  with  the  twigs  of  the  thorny  aca¬ 
cia.  The  path  was  strewn  with  great  thorns,  which  are  very 
troublesome  to  the  Arabs  ,  and  their  beasts.  Every  Arab 
carried  in  his  belt  a  pair  of  nippers  to  pull  out  the  thorns.10 


9  From  Akaba  to  Hebron  he  gives  as  nine  days,  and  the  watering-places,  El 
Ghadyan,  El  Ghammer,  and  Meyba. 

50  I  had  seen  a  camel  greatly  annoyed,  at  Wady  Aleyat,  by  getting  an  acacia- 
thorn,  not  into  the  sole,  but  into  the  division  of  the  foot,  between  the  toes.  He 
finally  pawed  it  out.  Our  Arabs  wore  their  sandals  in  that  place. 


346 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Passing  out  of  this  valley,  over  a  chain  of  hills  of  which 
Pas  el  Kaa  was  the  principal  height,  he  entered  a  flat  plain, 
strewn  with  black  gravel,  and  late  at  night  arrived  at  Biar 
Oinschasch,  where  there  were  several  wells  and  an  Arab 
camp.  On  the  next  day  he  passed  several  wadies  full  of 
tamarisk  and  acacia  (talk)  trees,  among  which,  here  and 
there,  were  low  shrubs.  The  plain  was  commonly  sprinkled 
with  flints,  and  in  one  place  was  chalky.  In  general  he  ob¬ 
served  that  where  the  winter  rains  collected,  trees  and  shrubs 
also  grew.  Burekhardt  here  encountered  a  poor  Bedouin 
woman,  who  asked  for  water.  She  was  on  her  way  to  join 
her  family  at  Akaba,  destitute  of  food  and  drink,  and  de¬ 
pendent  on  the  bounty  of  any  Arabs  she  might  encounter, 
but  apparently  “  as  free  from  care  as  if  she  were  taking  a 
walk.”  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain  Dharf  el  Rokn,  he 
crossed  the  pilgrim  route  to  Akaba,  which  was  some  eighteen 
hours  distant.  In  four  hours  after  crossing  the  mountain 
range,  he  came  to  the  well  Eth  Themmed.  It  lies  off  from 
the  pilgrim  route,  but  is  sought  by  the  Arab  conductors  of 
the  caravans  for  supplies  of  water.  It  is  situated  in  a  sandy 
soil,  surrounded  by  limestone.  Important  as  it  is,  no  care  is 
taken  to  prevent  it  from  being  choked  with  the  sand  and 
gravel  which  is  driven  by  every  wind.  It  is  not  lined  or 
built  up  on  the  sides,  and  the  Arabs  are  so  heedless  in  enter¬ 
ing  it  that  every  caravan,  on  arriving,  immediately  makes  it 
turbid.  The  water  contains  particles  of  sulphur. 

The  plain  oyer  which  Burekhardt  had  hitherto  travelled 
from  Pas  el  Kaa  terminated  at  Dharf  el  Pokn.  Westward 
the  surface  was  more  diversified  by  hills  and  valleys.  Here, 
as  he  understood  it,  began  the  proper  desert  of  Till.  The 
next  day  he  came  again  upon  the  pilgrim  road,  a  well-beat¬ 
en  path,  marked  by  skeletons  of  beasts  of  burden.  The  soil 
was  chalky,  and  strewn  with  gravel.  The  same  day  he  came 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


347 


to  Wady  Ruach,  the  bed  of  a  winter  stream  only  a  foot  be¬ 
low  the  level  of  the  plain,  yet  where  the  winter  rain  pro¬ 
motes  the  growth  of  low  shrubs  and  some  acacias.  And  he 
takes  occasion  to  remark  that  most  of  the  wadies  from 
thence  to  Egypt  were  of  that  description,  and  that  in  all 
of  them  colocynth  grows  in  great  quantities.  He  passed 
Nuklil  without  visiting  it,  lest  his  Arabs  should  be  deprived 
of  their  camels  by  the  officer  in  command  there.  Near  here 
he  found  an  acquaintance  of  his  Arabs,  who  was  burning 
coal  for  Cairo.  That  day  the  camels  had  nothing  but  desert 
herbs,  except  that  Burckhardt’s  own  camel  received  two 
handfuls  of  barley  at  night.  Four  hours  west  of  A ukhl  he 
came  to  a  level  region  of  “red  earth  fit  for  cultivation,  sim¬ 
ilar  to  that  in  the  Northern  Syrian  desert and  he  passed 
through  several  wadies  in  which  numerous  hares  were  scared 
up,  crossed  Wady  Nesyl,  which,  though  treeless,  was  grown 
up  with  green  herbs,  climbed  the  mountainous  region  of  El 
Thy  liar,  passing  out  of  the  desert  of  Et  Till,  and  halted  in  a 
valley  abounding  in  herbs  and  trees.  On  the  next  day, 
seven  hours  of  travel  brought  him  to  the  wells  of  Mabuk,  to 
his  great  joy,  for  his  water-skins  were  empty.  They  are  in 
the  level  plain  at  the  foot  of  some  rocks.  Good  water  was 
to  be  found  wherever  a  hole  was  dug  in  the  sand.  The 
holes  filled  a  foot  or  more  in  depth  as  fast  as  the  water  was 
drawn  out.  The  Egyptian  pilgrims  pass  to  the  north  of 
these  Wells,  but  the  Arabs  fill  their  water-skins  here.  Not 
far  from  the  wells  are  the  ruins  of  a  small  building  with 
strong  walls.  In  seven  hours  more  he  found  the  plain  in- 
crusted  with  salt,  and  a  narrow  strip  of  land  completely  cov¬ 
ered  with  shell-fish.  He  was  now  in  a  region  which,  as  he 
supposed,  was  once  covered  by  the  sea.  He  soon  reached  a 
place  where  a  salt  marsh  was  on  his  right,  and  the  sea  four 
or  five  miles  due  south,  and  in  two  and  a  half  hours  more 


348 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


arrived  at  Adgeroud  (Ajroud),  where  he  found  the  water 
abundant,  but  bitter,  and  used  only  for  camels.11 

It  will  give  a  somewhat  complete  picture  of  this  desert  to 
add  Riippell’s  excellent  description  (condensed)  of  his  jour¬ 
ney  over  the  caravan  route  from  west  to  east,  as  early  as 

«/ 

April,  1S22.  Going  north  from  Suez,  he  first  passed  the 
Mounds  of  Kolzum.  Quite  near  them  he  observed,  cut  in 
the  limestone  strata  on  the  sea -coast,  some  tombs,  on  the 
doors  of  which  at  dood-tide  the  water  stands  several  inches 
deep.  North-west,  of  these  ruins  he  travelled  for  half  an 
hour  alono-  the  bed  of  the  ancient  canal  that  connected  the 
Red  Sea  and  the  Nile.  It  appeared  to  be  about  a  hundred 
feet  broad,  without  any  trace  of  stone  embankments,  and  to 
have  availed  itself  of  the  natural  outdow  of  Wady  Babbeh, 
which  he  entered  next  day. 

After  crossing  the  canal,  his  route  ran  eastward  for  df- 
teen  minutes  by  a  low,  marshy  place,  then  for  dve  hours 
and  three-fourtlis  over  a  plain  containing  downs  of  quick¬ 
sand.  Here  he  descended  into  Wady  Babbeh,  or  Iladji, 
then  dry,  but  sometimes  dlled  with  seven  feet  of  water  by 
heavy  rains  in  the  north-eastern  mountains.  Its  channel 
comes  to  this  point  from  the  east,  turns  north,  and  loses  it¬ 
self  in  the  low,  marshy  region  of  the  canal.  For  three  hours 
he  followed  this  wady,  then  left  it,  where  it  came  from  the 
north,  and  proceeded  on  his  way  south-east  over  the  chalk- 
liills  enclosing  the  valley  Kubab.  This  valley  is  so  environ¬ 
ed  by  hills  as  to  have  no  outlet  for  its  rain-water,  is  covered 
with  green  pasturage,  and  wherever  holes  are  dug  a  few 
feet  below  the  surface  yields  sweet  water.  But  the  Arabs 
spare  themselves  the  trouble  of  digging,  and  get  their  wTater 
from  some  walled  cisterns  half  an  hour  to  the  north.  At 


11  Reisen,  pp.  735-752. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


349 


tlie  same  place  are  some  ruins,  including  a  Mohammedan 
tomb.  The  Arabs  had  no  name  for  the  ruins,  but  showed 
him  some  copper  coins  of  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies  that 
were  found  in  the  vicinity.  A  violent  shower  during  the 
night  occasions  the  remark  that  during  the  winter  months 
rains  are  far  more  common  and  severe  in  Arabia  Petrsea 
than  is  supposed  in  Europe. 

Six  hours’  journey  still  east,  in  valleys  lying  between 
chalk-hills,  brought  him  to  the  plain  which  he  calls  Scheme, 
the  last  pasture -grounds  before  reaching  Nuklil.  On  the 
way  he  saw  numerous  flocks  of  goats,  which  the  Bedouin 
drove  hastily  to  the  mountains  as  his  company  approached. 
The  Arabs  were  always  armed,  commonly  with  an  old  rusty 
matchlock.  They  seldom  had  more  than  one  charge  of 
powder,  and  often  not  that. 

From  the  plain  of  Scheme  a  track  conducts  north-easterly 
in  six  days  to  Jerusalem.  Three  hours’  journey  from  this 
place  east-south-east  brought  him  to  Nuklil.  The  way  led 
over  clayey  lowlands,  out  of  which  rose  in  horizontal  strata 
steep  hills  of  limestone  interspersed  with  flints.  The  sur¬ 
face  of  the  ground  was  frightfully  barren,  covered  with 
sharp-edged  flints  and  little  besides.  The  cisterns  at  N ukhl 
were  as  dirty  then  as  now,  imparting  a  bitter  taste  to  the 
water.  A  heavy  shower  fell  at  that  place  on  the  night  of 
April  24th. 

From  Nuldil  he  continued  to  follow,  for  nine  hours  longer, 
the  caravan  road  to  Mecca,  east  and  south-east,  between  pre¬ 
cipitous  chalk- hills,  and  by  the  valleys  of  Buack  (Rawak) 
and  Edgib,  to  the  plain  of  Koroef.  The  landscape  con¬ 
tinued  its  stern  uniformity,  limestone  hills  interchanging 
with  flint-covered  and  water-worn  plains.  At  this  point  he 
turned  from  the  road  to  Mecca,  which  continues  east,  and 
went  three  hours  south-easterly  to  Wady  Tamat,  a  depres- 


350 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


sion  surrounded  by  bills  of  marl,  lying  in  horizontal  ter¬ 
raced  strata.  At  the  foot  of  an  angle  or  curve  in  these  ter¬ 
races  was  a  well  fifteen  feet  deep,  dug  in  the  sandy  soil. 
The  water  stands  but  a  few  inches  deep,  but  it  is  of  excel¬ 
lent  quality,  and  is  found  throughout  the  year. 

Four  hours  east  of  this  well  he  a^ain  struck  the  caravan 
road.  The  painful  uniformity  of  the  desert  was  soon  inter¬ 
rupted  by  a  difficult  pass  over  a  limestone  hill,  where  the 
way  was  made  easier  by  a  passage  hewn  for  two  hundred 
feet  in  the  limestone  rock.  An  Arabic  inscription  records 
the  name  of  its  author.  The  region  was  infested  by  Arab 
robber-hordes.  Beyond  the  pass  he  came  to  a  valley  green 
with  tamarisk-bushes  and  “  n aback  ’’-trees ;  and  then  to  the 
plain  of  Darfureck.  The  region  was  destitute  of  vegetation, 
and  here  and  there  lay  fragments  of  weather-beaten  granite. 
Soon  afterward  he  arrived  at  a  group  of  isolated  masses  of 
granite  rock,  rising  separately  from  the  plain,  and  extending 
from  the  north-north-east  to  the  south-south-west.  Amon^ 
them  he  was  astonished  to  find  a  small  pond  or  lake  of 
collected  rain-water.  It  covered  a  space  which  Biippell  es¬ 
timated  at  an  hour  and  a  half  (about  three  miles  and  three- 
quarters)  long  by  five  hundred  paces  broad,  and  it  was  sev¬ 
eral  feet  deep.  His  guide  informed  him  that  when  the  win¬ 
ter  rains  are  not  defective  the  water  stands  here  throughout 
the  year.  But  this  statement  was  afterward  positively  con¬ 
tradicted.  The  place  is  called  Has  es  Sat.  It  is  a  high  val¬ 
ley,  having  a  picturesque  outlook  toward  the  Arabah  on  the 
left,  to  the  mountains  beyond  Akaba  in  front,  and  to  a  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  sea  on  the  right.  It  lay  as  much  as  fifteen 
hundred  feet  above  the  banks  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba,  down 
to  which  level  it  was  still  a  journey  of  five  hours,  winding 
among  wild  masses  of  porphyry.  In  the  most  dangerous 
places  the  road  is  cut  thirty  feet  wide  through  the  rock. 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


351 


and  an  inscription  records  the  name  of  the  author  of  the 
work.  He  rode  an  hour  along  a  salt-marsh  which  forms  the 
border  of  the  gulf,  and  came  to  an  extensive  heap  of  rub¬ 
bish,  which  he  regarded  as  marking  the  site  of  Ailah,  or 
Elatli  of  the  (Scriptures  (an  opinion  in  which  Robinson  con¬ 
curs),12  and  beyond  these  the  ruins  of  an  Arab  village,  con¬ 
sisting  of  low  walls  of  rough  stone  laid  with  clay.  These 
last  were  surrounded  by  date-palms,  and  not  far  from  the 
castle  of  Akaba.  The  more  ancient  ruins  he  heard  called 
Gelena  (though  Robinson  could  learn  no  name),  and  he 
afterward  found  here  a  hewn  block  of  white  marble,  which 
had  been  first  brought  to  light  some  years  before,  when  the 
residents  of  the  region  were  excavating  an  ancient  bath  in 
which  they  found  a  vessel  containing  gold  coin.  Riippell 
not  only  mentions  the  stoned  well  in  the  castle  which  yields 
excellent  water,  but  adds  the  important  fact  that  drinkable 
water  is  found  in  the  region  generally ;  and  another  impor¬ 
tant  fact  which  he  often  proved,  namely,  that  at  ebb-tide, 
on  digging  a  foot  deep  in  the  sand  that  has  just  been  cov¬ 
ered  by  the  sea,  the  hole  immediately  fills  with  excellent 
drinking-water.  He  supposes  it  to  ooze  out  from  Wady 
Arabah  through  the  sand  and  gravel  strata  which  overlie 
the  granite. 

These  sketches  of  the  desert  by  accurate  observers  who 
crossed  it  in  various  directions  and  at  various  seasons,  will 
convey  a  somewhat  complete  view  of  its  character  and  re¬ 
sources.  Conceive  of  a  vast  limestone  plateau  thrust  down 
with  a  blunt  wedge-shape,  or  rather  horseshoe,  form  into 
the  northern  border  of  the  Sinaitic  peninsula.  Its  southern 
edge  rises  like  a  wall  almost  perpendicularly  a  thousand 
feet  or  more  above  the  plains  and  valleys  immediately  at  its 


12  Researches,  i.  241,  first  edition. 


352 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


foot,  and  lies  about  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  It  is  accessible  on  this  southern  side  at  a  few  isolated 
passes  only.  This  plain  falls  away  northward  with  a  grad¬ 
ual  slope,  till  at  An  kill  it  is  blit  fourteen  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea.  Its  northern  part  is  intersected  by  a  mountain 
chain,  with  various  spurs — Jebel  Magrah,  which  comes 
pushing  southward,  considerably  east  of  the  middle  line,  to 
within  fifty  miles  of  Akaba,  and  more  than  twice  that  dis¬ 
tance  from  Suez.  The  drainage  of  the  desert  is  toward  the 
north,  and  is  divided  along  the  line  of  this  mountain  range, 
the  western  portion  being  gathered  up  chiefly  by  the  great 
Wady  el  Arisli,  with  its  numerous  tributaries,  and  carried 
to  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  eastern  portion  tending  to  the 
Arabah,  chiefly  through  the  wadies  Gamhr  and  Marreh. 

The  length  of  the  desert  along  the  pilgrim  route  from 
Suez  to  Akaba  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  the 
distance  across  by  our  track  from  Nugb  er  Bakineh  west 
of  Jebel  Magrah  to  Muweileh,  about  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles.  The  general  nature  of  the  surface  has  been  suffi¬ 
ciently  indicated.  It  is  drearily  hard  and  barren.  Abun¬ 
dant  rains,  however,  can  cover  these  and  other  portions 
with  a  considerable  amount  of  vegetation.  But  the  wa¬ 
dies,  including  even  the  slight  depressions  where  the  water 
stands  or  flows,  and  thus  comprising  a  very  considerable 
portion  of  the  surface,  seldom  fail  to  show  a  permanent 
growth  of  herbs  and  shrubs,  one  or  both.  The  best  parts, 
in  their  best  condition,  however,  would  be  better  adapted  to 
pasturage  than  tillage.  Camels  and  goats,  perhaps  also 
sheep,  donkeys,  and  oxen,  might  find  subsistence. 

The  desert  is  not  destitute  of  watering-places.  A  few 
springs  and  wells  are  found,  chiefly,  though  not  solely, 
around  the  edge  of  it,  and  along  the  mountain  range  that 
projects  into  it  from  the  north.  Beginning  at  the  western 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


353 


or  south-western  point,  it  is  proper  to  bear  in  mind  that  the 
wells  of  Mabuk  lie  just  at  the  foot  of  the  rock- wall  of  the 
desert,  comparatively  easy  of  access.  On  the  plateau  itself, 
some  fifteen  miles  from  the  declivity,  is  the  basin  in  Wady 
Kubbeibat  (Seetzen’s  Kubab),  in  which  holes  dug  anywhere 
yield  sweet  water,  and  there  are  walled  cisterns  half  an 
hour  north.  About  twenty  miles  south,  in  the  edge  of  the 
plateau  at  Taset  Sudr,  according  to  Robinson,  is  a  fountain 
which  flows  into  Wady  Sudr.  South-east  of  this  is  a  spring, 
with  palm-trees,  in  Wady  Wutah,  an  hour  from  the  foot  of 
the  pass,  which  required  an  hour  to  climb;  and  two  hours 
from  the  spring  are  nawamis  and  inscriptions.  Twelve  or 
fourteen  miles  farther  south-east,  on  the  plateau  itself,  above 
the  pass  of  Er  Rakineh,  is  the  supply  at  Nutheigineh,  which 
we  found  so  copious.  Next  south-east  is  the  pass  of  Wur- 
sali,  about  twelve  miles  north  of  which  Russegger  found  the 
wells  of  Redschim.  Seetzen  descended  from  the  plateau  by 
the  pass  next  east,  Emreikheh.  On  the  day  previous  he 
found  some  bad  spring-water,  and  two  hours  farther  south 
wells  in  Wady  Biara,  apparently  below  the  plateau. 

Proceeding  now  north-easterly  on  the  edge  of  the  moun¬ 
tain  wall,  we  reach  the  very  easy  pass  of  Mirad,  first  ascend¬ 
ed  by  Palmer  and  Drake.  No  water  is  mentioned  here  on 
the  plateau ;  but  down  below  the  easy  declivity  of  Mirad, 
in  the  wady  Biyar,  are  three  or  four  deep  wells,  and  in  the 
vicinity  an  immense  number  of  nawamis  and  stone  circles; 
while  still  farther  to  the  south,  in  Wady  Ain,  is  a  running 
stream  called  Ain  el  Elva,  and  a  great  number  of  stone 
remains  in  the  vicinity.  From  this  point  no  fountains  are 
mentioned,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  along  the  southern  edge 
of  the  desert ;  nor  is  it  definitely  known  what  springs,  if  any, 
may  be  found  in  the  short  distance  from'  here  to  the  sea¬ 
shore.  But  on  descending  to  the  sea  at  Akaba,  there  are 

23 


354 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


numerous  wells,  and  abundant  water  at  the  depth  of  fifteen 
or  twenty  feet;  and  even  holes  dug  in  the  sand  at  low  tide 
readily  fill  with  sweet  water.  Along  the  eastern  descent 
from  the  desert  to  the  Arabah,  as  we  have  seen,  Robinson 
enumerates  and  names  six  fountains  of  living  water.  Fol¬ 
lowing  the  mountain  chain  of  Magrah  south  from  Ain  Mu- 
weileh  and  Ain  Gadis,  on  the  extreme  northern  edge  of 
the  desert,  we  find  the  wells  of  Mayin  lying  on  the  eastern 
side,  on  the  line  of  the  Roman  road,  and  still  south-east  of 
this,  according  to  Robinson’s  Arabs,  the  spring  Esh  Sheba- 
beh.  Seetzen  was  also  told  bv  his  Arabs  of  Ain  el  Gann  is, 
five  hours  south  of  Gadis.  The  same  day  he  found  a  good 
supply  of  rain-water  in  a  rock  ravine,  and  the  Arabs  filled 
their  water-skins  from  the  well  called  Bir  el  Achmar,  many 
miles  north  of  the  pilgrim  route  to  Mecca.  In  Wady  Garai- 
yeh  Palmer  encountered  some  water  that  had  been  brought 
there  by  recent  rains,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  camels  in  the 
vicinity.  In  the  direct  line  from  Jebel  Araif  to  Akaba, 
Robinson  found  rain-water  collected  in  pits  in  Wady  Butli- 
hat ;  farther  south,  in  Wady  Jerafeh,  rain-water  in  holes  dug 
in  the  ground,  called  Emshash,  probably  the  Bir  Omschasch 
of  Burekhardt;  and  still  farther  south,  in  Wady  Garaiyeh, 
a  small  pool  of  rain-water  in  a  deep  gully,  one  of  the  chief 
watering-places  of  the  Arabs  in  these  regions.  On  or  near 
the  pilgrim  route,  which  runs  directly  through  the  length 
of  the  desert  from  Suez  to  Akaba,  we  find  only  the  deep 
wells  at  Ru khl  nearly  midway,  and  Bir  etli  Themed  about 
half-way,  between  Nukhl  and  Akaba.  To  these  should  be 
added  the  vast  collection  of  rain-water  which  Rtippell  saw 
at  Ras  es  Sat,  in  a  lake  three  or  four  miles  long,  not  men¬ 
tioned,  perhaps,  by  any  other  traveller.  Besides  these,  Mur¬ 
ray’s  map  shows  a  Bir  Kureis,  a  few  miles  south-west  of  Bir 
etli  Themed.  Burekhardt  says  that  in  Wady  Lahyaneh,  east 


THE  DESERT  OF  THE  WANDERING. 


355 


of  Jerafeh,  water  collects  in  many  low  places  in  winter, 
and  Mr.  Palmer  mentions  that  in  various  wadies  muddy 
water  can  be  found  b}7  digging.  This  account,  though  prob¬ 
ably  including  the  chief  watering-places  of  the  desert,  is 
not  to  be  considered  exhaustive ;  while  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  by  some  little  labor  in  constructing  reservoirs,  by 
dams  across  many  of  the  wadies,  the  supply  might  be  almost 
indefinitely  increased.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  there  is 
nothing  inconceivable  in  the  belief  that  the  Israelites  might, 
by  care  and  foresight,  provide  themselves  with  water,  even 
in  this  desolate  region,  while  journeying  across,  or  while 
more  permanently  occupying  it,  especially  if  they  were 
widely  dispersed,  and  located  in  the  more  favorable  parts. 

The  greater  difficulty  would  have  been  in  regard  to  food. 
It  is  true  that  the  desert  is  intersected  in  every  part  of  it 
by  wadies,  some  of  them  of  great  extent,  and  that  these,  as 
well  as  all  the  depressions  of  the  surface,  are  transiently  or 
permanently  supplied  with  vegetation,  while,  during  the 
rainy  season,  other  parts  of  the  desert  yield  a  temporary 
pasturage.  There  are  limited  spots  even  capable  of  cultiva¬ 
tion.  And  during  those  long  years  not  described  in  the 
narrative,  we  may  reasonably  suppose  the  Israelites  widely 
dispersed  on  the  more  arable  spots  doing  their  best  to  gain 
a  sustenance.  But,  with  their  best  efforts,  a  great  body  of 
people  must  have  found  it  impossible  to  procure  an  ade¬ 
quate  supply  of  food.  The  difficulty  would  seem  insur¬ 
mountable.  And  the  consistency  of  the  Biblical  narrative 
is  in  nothing  more  manifest  than  in  the  fact  that  it  narrates 
the  Divine  interposition  to  give  the  people  water  as  only 
an  exceptional  thing,  but  the  miraculous  supply  of  food  as 
constant  and  permanent. 


356 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 

March  11  th. — At  eight  o’clock  we  moved  up  Wady  Mu- 
weileh  for  an  hour.  The  young  vegetation  was  abundant 
all  the  way,  extending  even  up  the  hill-sides  on  the  right, 
and  tinging  them  with  green.  Much  of  the  way  it  formed 
almost  a  continuous  sod.  Three  pigeons  flew  over  our  path. 

At  nine  we  came  to  Ain  Muweileh.  Here  ’were  birds 
singing,  a  large  amount  of  ghurkhuds  and  tamarisks,  and  a 
tine  little  brook  of  sweet  water.  We  followed  the  stream 
up  sixty  or  eighty  rods,  and  could  trace  the  line  of  the  wady 
half  a  mile  or  more  to  the  hill-side,  where  the  Arabs  said 
it  issued  forth.  It  is  curious  that  so  many  travellers  have 
missed  seeing  this  important  water-supply.  Russegger,  as 
early  as  1838,  visited  the  “  wells  of  Moyle;”  but  was  so 
badly  bruised  by  the  fall  of  his  camel,  and  so  occupied  with 
a  prodigious  rain  that  overtook  him  here,  that  he  gives  no 
description.  Robinson,  in  1838,  did  not  see  it,  but  heard  of 
it  as  ua  brackish  water,  called  El  Muweileh,”  at  a  station 
on  the  western  road  from  Gaza.  Strauss  does  not  allude  to 
it,  nor  does  Bonar.  Rowlands  found  it  in  1842,  and  thought 
to  identify  it  with  the  fountain  of  Hagar  (Gen.  xvi.  14) ; 
but  notwithstanding  his  enthusiasm,  he  fails  to  give  a  word 
of  descriptive  statement.1  Palmer  speaks  of  a  “  spring  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,”  and  of  “  the  valley  having  been 


1  Williams’s  Holy  City,  i.  465. 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


357 


eaten  away  by  the  stream,”  adding  that  “  there  is  a  good 
supply  of  water  obtained  principally  from  a  number  of 
wells,”  and  incidentally  referring  to  “  the  existence  of  water 
in  such  large  quantities  upon  the  spot.”  As  I  saw  it,  there 
was  a  strong  running  stream,  very  likely  increased  by  recent 
rains.  Near  at  hand  are  two  caves  cut  in  the  rock,  showing 
on  the  walls  remains  of  crosses  and  other  ornamentation,  of 
probably  hermit  origin,  and  also  exhibiting  numerous  Ara¬ 
bic  tribe-marks.  The  soil  of  the  wady  is  somewhat  fertile. 
Marks  of  dams  for  irrigation  are  discernible,  and  on  the 
hills  around  are  numerous  remains — stone-heaps,  cairns,  and 
paths. 

It  is  well  known  that  some  would  find  at  Muweileh  Ha- 
gar’s  fountain,  mentioned  in  Genesis  as  “  in  the  wilderness,  in 
the  way  to  Shur”  (xvi.7);  as  “  between  Kadesh  and  Bered,” 
and  as  being  “called  Beer-1  ahai-roi  ”  (ver.  14) :  and  it  is  also 
mentioned  by  its  name  (xxiv.  62,  and  xxv.  11).  This  identi¬ 
fication  was  first  proposed  in  Williams’s  Holy  City,  on  the 
strength  of  a  communication  and  supposed  discovery  by 
Rev.  J.  Rowlands  therein  set  forth.  The  visit  was  made  in 
1842.  The  identification  was  favorably  mentioned  by  Rit¬ 
ter,  has  been  somewhat  definitely  accepted  by  Keil  and 
Kalisch,  and  received  as  probable  by  Knobel.  Of  the  con¬ 
siderations  urged  or  that  might  be  urged  in  favor  of  it,  are — 
(1)  Its  situation  on  the  regular  caravan  road  to  Egypt,  “  the 
way  to  Shur.”  (2)  Its  alleged  vicinity  to  Ivadesh,  “be¬ 
tween  Kadesh  and  Bered.”  Williams  and  others  have 
found  Kadesh  also  near  here  on  the  north-east.  Whether  it 
be  the  Kadesh  of  the  Bible  is  a  question  on  which  some¬ 
thing  will  be  said  presently.  It  is  a  long  distance,  perhaps 
forty-five  miles,  from  Robinson’s  Kadesh.  (3)  Its  relation 
to  the  movements  of  Isaac  (Gen.  xxiv.  62),  when  Abraham’s 
servant  came  from  the  north  with  Isaac’s  bride.  “  Isaac 


358 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


came  from  the  way  of  the  well  Lahai-roi,  for  he  dwelt  in 
the  South  Country.”  Isaac  also  dwelt  for  a  time  by  the  well 
Lahai-roi  (Gen.  xxvi.  11),  afterward  dwelling  in  Gerar  among 
the  Philistines,  moving  to  Esek,  Sitnali,  Rehoboth,  and  Beer- 
slieba.  The  last-mentioned  movements  are  from  the  south 
to  the  north.  Muweileh  would  naturally  lie  at  the  southern 
point.  Muweileh  is  about  thirty-five  miles  south  of  Ruhai- 
beh,  or  Belioboth,  a  distance  favorable  to  the  theory,  inas¬ 
much  as  Lahai-roi  would  thus  be  south  beyond  the  province 
of  the  Philistines.  (4)  Mr.  Rowlands  makes  his  chief  argu¬ 
ment  from  the  name  given  him  as  Moilahi  Hadjar,  the  first 
word  of  which,  moi  (“  water  ”),  takes  the  place  of  Beer  or 
Bir  (“well”),  and  the  laid  conforms  substantially  to  the  He¬ 
brew  name.  The  addition  Hadjar ,  though  properly  mean¬ 
ing  rock,  they  explained  to  him  as  drawn  from  the  name  of 
a  person,  and  they  conducted  him  to  a  chamber  in  the  rock 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  away,  called  Beit  Llajar  (“house  of 
ILagar”).  These  last  statements  rest  on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Rowlands.  Our  Arabs  did  not  belong  in  the  country,  and 
they  gave  us  only  the  name  Muweileh ;  nor  did  we  encoun¬ 
ter  other  Arabs  of  whom  to  inquire.  Mr.  Palmer  mentions 
no  such  information,  although  alluding  to  the  theory.  Still 
further  inquiries  evidently  need  to  be  made  in  the  region 
before  accepting  or  positively  rejecting  this  theory.  Hot 
having  the  precise  form  of  Mr.  Powlands’s  statement  then 
before  me,  and  encountering  no  resident  Arab  anywhere  in 
the  vicinity,  I  failed  to  gain  the  needed  information. 

At  our  camp  I  had  communicated  to  Suleiman  our  inten¬ 
tion  to  turn  southward  from  the  regular  route  in  order  to 
visit  the  Ain  Gadis,  or  Kades,  which  Mr.  Rowlands  visited, 
and  which  Mr.  Palmer  also  describes.  The  description  giv¬ 
en  by  the  latter  does  not  affirm  that  he  visited  the  place,  and 
his  map  shows  that  he  did  not ;  while  his  description  both  of 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


359 


this  and  of  a  supposed  Ain  Gudeirat  (found  also  in  Robin¬ 
son’s  map)  shows  that  for  once  lie  is  at  fault,  and  was  appar¬ 
ently  misinformed.2  Indeed,  Sheikh  Suleiman  not  only  ob¬ 
jected  to  taking  us  there,  but  said,  whether  truly  or  falsely, 
that  he  had  refused  to  conduct  Mr.  Palmer  thither,  and 
that  he  was  angry.  We  insisted  on  going,  and  Suleiman  as 
steadily  objected.  The  subject  was  repeatedly  alluded  to, 
and  we  steadily  told  him  that  we  were  going  there,  whether 
he  wished  or  not.  As  we  moved  on  our  way,  we  reminded 
him  once  or  twice  of  our  intention,  and  inquired  whether  we 
had  not  reached  the  place  to  turn  off.  We  got  no  satisfac¬ 
tory  answer,  except  that  we  had  not  reached  the  track ;  and 
we  remained  in  suspense  as  to  his  intention,  but  determined 
to  enforce  our  demand. 

At  length,  much  to  our  relief,  just  after  passing  Ain  Mu- 
weileh,  he  turned  abruptly  to  the  right,  due  east,  while  the 
caravan  went  directly  forward.  We  entered  almost  at  once 
into  Wady  Gadis.  Here  were  numerous  camels  of  the  Ter- 
abin  Arabs  feeding,  but  no  owner  in  sight.  One  of  the 
camels  had  a  young  one  with  her.  Sheikh  Suleiman  dis¬ 
mounted,  came  to  us  for  dishes,  and  after  helping  himself 
brought  us  three  foaming  tumblers  of  camel’s  milk.  It  was 
good  sweet  milk,  but  not  as  rich  as  ordinary  cow’s  milk, 
probably  because  of  poorer  food.  From  the  description  of 
Rowlands  and  from  the  maps,  we  had  expected  a  journey  of 
three  or  four  hours  before  arriving  at  Ain  Gadis.  But,  to 
our  surprise,  a  journey  of  one  hour  and  five  minutes  from 
Muweileh  brought  us  unexpectedly  to  what  the  sheikh  said 
all  the  Arabs  knew  as  Ain  Gadis.  On  this  point  we  made 
repeated  and  particular  inquiry.  Even  in  1807  Seetzen 
•  mentions  “Wady  el  Kdeis,”  two  and  a  half  hours  south  of 


2  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  350. 


360 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Wady  Ain,  though  he  saw  only  its  western  edge,  where  there 
were  tamarisks  and  a  hank  of  sand.  The  wady  itself  in 
which  we  were  extends  from  west  to  east  between  four  and 
live  miles,  continuing  a  mile  beyond  where  the  water  is 
found.  It  forms  a  kind  of  oblong  basin,  enclosed  on  both 
sides  by  continuous  ranges  of  hills,  and  terminating  at  the 
east  abruptly  against  a  still  higher  mountain  range,  which 
runs  north  and  south.  At  the  eastern  end  of  the  wady,  how¬ 
ever,  its  northern  hill-boundary  breaks  down,  and  the  valley 
connects  here  (as  indicated  in  Mr.  Palmer’s  map)  with  the 
eastern  terminus  of  Wady  el  Ain,  which  curves  round  first 
to  the  north-west  and  then  extends  more  nearly  due  west, 
almost  parallel  to  Wady  Gadis,  beyond  the  high  separating 
ridge.  The  water  that  is  found  here  would  thus  seem  to  be 
that  which  flows  from  the  higher  strata  all  around  and 
meets  in  this  basin. 

We  first  came  to  a  place  where  there  were  three  excava¬ 
tions  in  the  sandy  soil,  each  about  seven  feet  in  diameter, 
containing  water  to  the  depth  of  two  feet.  Around  these 
were  several  smaller  holes,  some  two  feet  in  diameter,  also 
containing  water.  Going  due  east,  we  passed  for  several 
rods  through  a  marsh  filled  with  reeds  and  rushes,  where  in 
several  places  we  crossed  narrow  channels  of  standing  water. 
To  the  right  at  this  point  a  spur  of  rock  projected  north¬ 
westerly  from  the  southern  embankment  of  the  wady,  and 
the  water  came  out  of  this  spur  in  moderate  quantities  and 
flowed  down  a  series  of  stair-like  ledges  into  the  wady. 
This,  however,  could  have  been  but  one  of  the  sources  of 
supply. 

Passing  through  the  marshy  land,  we  came  to  a  rather 
higher  level  of  sandy  soil,  and  found,  somewhat  widely  scat¬ 
tered,  nine  of  the  larger  and  two  of  the  smaller  excavations 
now  opened.  In  most  of  them  the  water  had  been  rendered 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


361 


dirty  by  camels,  but  wherever  it  stood  in  a  clean  place  it 
was  clear  and  good.  The  reedy  portion  of  the  ground  we 
estimated  at  four  or  five  acres,  all  more  or  less  pervaded 
with  water,  which  appeared  on  or  near  the  surface ;  and 
over  a  large  space  of  the  higher  sandy  soil  it  was  evidently 
only  a  question  of  convenience  where  to  scoop  a  hole  and 
find  water.  The  Arabs  told  us  that  over  a  circle  which 
they  indicated  in  a  general  way,  and  which  comprised  many 
acres,  wherever  you  dig  you  find  water.  The  holes  are  of 
a  transient  character,  dug  some  four  feet  deep  only,  and 
the  water  stood  in  them  about  two  feet  deep.  In  one  place 
I  saw  the  water  running  out  of  a  slight  bank  on  the  edge 
of  a  higher  platform,  and  flowing  into  the  rushes  below. 
The  flow  was  from  the  east,  as  though  from  the  high  moun¬ 
tain  in  that  direction. 

The  extent  of  space  throughout  which  water  could  be 
found  must  have  rendered  this  a  very  important  place.  So 
it  appeared  to  be  from  the  camel-marks  around,  although  at 
present  water  was  found  also  in  Wady  el  Ain.  The  impor¬ 
tance  of  the  locality  is  increased  by  its  proximity  to  Ain 
Muweileh.  The  fertility  of  the  immediate  neighborhood, 
presently  to  be  mentioned,  greatly  increases  its  importance, 
and  makes  the  region  a  notable  place. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  locality  does  not  conform  to  Row- 
lands’s  specification  (“twelve  miles  from  Muweileh”);  but 
his  narrative  shows  looseness  of  statement,  botli  in  descrip¬ 
tion  of  places  and  in  estimates  of  distances,  and  contains  no 
indications  of  a  journal  or  a  record  made  on  the  spot.  In¬ 
deed,  none  of  the  places  mentioned  by  Rowlands  along  this 
region  could  be  identified  from  his  statements  of  distances, 
which  are  often  many  miles  out  of  the  way.  But  it  seems 
clear  that  he  describes,  with  some  enthusiastic  coloring,  the 
very  fountain  which  we  found.  There  was  “  a  large  single 


362 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


mass,  or  small  hill  of  solid  rock,  a  spur  of  the  mountain  to 
the  north  [east?]  of  it  rising  immediately  above  it,”  out  of 
which  came  a  “lovely  stream,”  forming  “pretty  little  cas¬ 
cades  as  it  descends  into  the  channel  of  a  rain-torrent  be¬ 
neath,  along  a  green  slope.  The  stream  when  it  reaches 
the  channel  turns  westward,  and  after  running  about  three 
or  four  hundred  yards,  loses  itself  in  the  sand.”  The  rock- 
spur  is  the  “only  visible  naked  rock  in  the  whole  region.” 
With  the  single  exception  of  the  point  of  compass — an  er¬ 
ror  which  I  found  myself  committing  at  first — and  with  a 
modification,  perhaps,  of  the  statement  that  this  was  the 
“  only  ”  visible  naked  rock,  all  the  circumstances  form  a 
description  of  what  we  saw,  as  exact  as  the  nature  of  his 
style  would  admit.  It  will  also  be  seen  that  neither  the 
description,  nor  the  distance,  nor  the  place,  corresponds  to 
Mr.  Palmer’s  description,  but  his  map  shows  he  did  not 
visit  it,  as  Suleiman  also  testified.  But  the  wady  is  cer¬ 
tainly  the  one  which  his  map  shows,  and  it  connects  with 
Wady  el  Ain,  into  which  we  passed  from  Gadis,  as  his  map 
indicates.  Furthermore,  it  was  the  express,  reiterated  tes¬ 
timony  of  Suleiman  that  this  was  known  to  all  the  Arabs 
as  Ain  Gadis.  It  was  the  most  abundant  water-supply  that 
we  found  between  N  uklil  and  Beer-sheba.  Moreover,  there 
certainly  was  no  other  place  of  the  kind  several  miles  east  in 
this  wady,  for  the  wady  itself  terminates  against  the  sharp 
high  mountain  range,  forming  a  complete  barrier  without 
an  outlet  east  and  south,  and  we  followed  it  to  its  termina¬ 
tion.  The  only  outlet  was  the  one  through  which  we  passed 
at  the  north-east  angle  into  Wady  el  Ain.  I  was  the  more 
particular  in  inquiring  and  observing  with  great  care,  be¬ 
cause  I  was  so  disappointed  in  my  expectations  as  to  be  sus¬ 
picious  of  some  possible  mistake. 

Another  mistake  we  were  forced  to  correct  on  the  spot- — 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


363 


the  supposed  existence  of  an  Ain  Gudeirat  in  Wady  el  Ain. 
Dr.  Robinson,3  in  speaking  of  Rowlands’s  discovery,  thinks 
that  he  evidently  mistook  Ain  Gudeirat  in  Wady  el  Ain  for 
what  he  calls  Ain  Gad  is,  or  Ivades,  and  Mr.  Palmer4  repeats 
the  suggestion.  From  Ain  Gadis  we  followed  the  wady  east 
thirty-five  minutes  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  abrupt 
Magrah  mountain  range,  finding  no  other  fountain  and  no 
running  water;  and  then  we  turned  north,  entering  almost 
at  once  into  Wady  el  Ain.  Rear  the  point  of  transition  we 
came  upon  a  watercourse  running  north-westerly,  and  in  it 
there  was  standing  rain-water,  occupying  a  space  about 
seventy  feet  long  by  three  feet  wide,  and  in  the  deepest 
places  not  more  than  two  feet  deep.  There  was  no  running 
stream.  The  Arabs  said  that  there  was  another  similar  pool 
a  little  farther  down,  but  no  fountain  here  or  anywhere  in 
the  wady,  and  that  this  would  be  dry  in  a  month.  I  in¬ 
quired  very  fully  into  the  matter,  and  received  uniformly 
the  same  answers.  In  fact,  the  wady  commenced  abruptly 
at  the  mountain  range,  not  half  a  mile  to  the  right  of  us. 
As  from  that  point  we  followed  the  wady  for  a  long  dis¬ 
tance,  indeed  almost  to  its  end,  and  much  of  the  time  in 
the  water-bed,  I  can  speak  with  some  confidence  on  the 
subject. 

Neither  Dr.  Robinson  nor  Mr.  Palmer  claims  to  have 
seen  this  fountain  Gudeirat,  nor,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  does 
any  other  traveller.  Rowlands  mentions,  but  does  not  pre¬ 
tend  to  have  seen,  the  springs  “Adeirat  and  Aseimeh,  some¬ 
times  called  Kadeirat  and  Kaseimeh,”  but  in  the  opposite 
direction,  “to  the  west  of  Kades,”  and  the  Wady  el  Arisli 
succeeds  in  the  same  line.  Dr.  Robinson  evidently  gives 
as  information  received  by  him  the  somewhat  vague  state- 


3  Researches,  i.  189  ;  ii.  194. 


4  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  350. 


364 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ment  that  “beyond  the  eastern  mountain  [Muweileh?]  at 
some  distance  is  a  large  fountain,  with  sweet  running  water, 
named  Ain  el  Kudeirat,  but  more  usually  called  simply  El 
Ain.  From  it  a  wady,  also  called  El  Ain,  runs  off  toward 
the  north,  and,  sweeping  round  north-west  through  a  tract 
of  open  country,  goes  to  join  the  Arish.”  As  Dr.  Robinson 
passed  here  so  far  west  as  neither  to  see  the  fountain  of 
Muweileh,  which  he  casually  mentions  as  “  brackish  water,” 
nor  this  of  Gadis,  nor  Birein,  nor  this  supposed  Kudeirat, 
his  account  lacks  the  usual  weight  of  his  personal  knowl¬ 
edge. 

Wady  Ain  throughout  its  length  was  covered  with  verd¬ 
ure  and  fragrant  flowers,  and  lined  with  wheat-fields.  We 
estimated  that  there  were  sixty  acres  of  continuous  fields  of 
wheat,  well  advanced,  in  the  wady,  and  in  this  and  Gadis 
probably  four  hundred  camels.  After  following  Wady  el 
Ain  a  little  more  than  an  hour,  near  the  junction  with 
Wady  Darnah  we  saw  some  thirty  black  Arab  tents,  and 
passed  several  donkeys  loaded  with  water-skins  which  had 
been  filled  from  below.  The  donkev  indicated  a  new  stage 
of  progress.  The  wady  at  length  swung  round  from  north¬ 
west  to  west,  as  it  gradually  faded  out  into  a  rolling  region, 
and  we  continued  our  course  nearly  north-north-east  for  an 
hour  and  ten  minutes,  then  north-north-west  two  and  a  half 
hours,  to  the  summit  of  Magrah  el  Birein.  Crossing  Wady 
Darnah,  as  it  comes  in  from  the  east,  we  found  it  a  green 
carpet.  Here,  to  appearance,  there  might  be  a  passage 
through  the  ridge  of  Jebel  Magrah  directly  east.  After  a 
while,  on  a  rising  ground,  we  came  to  a  number  of  holes 
about  three  feet  in  diameter,  which  we  were  told  were  for 
storing  wheat  and  barley.  We  crossed  Wady  Dizah,  and  at 
twenty-five  minutes  past  two  began  to  ascend  a  long  slope, 
reaching  the  highest  point  at  three  o’clock.  Here  were 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


365 


stone  cairns,  large  and  small,  on  each  side  of  the  way  and 
on  the  hill- tops,  and  we  continued  to  pass  them  for  at  least 
three-quarters  of  an  hour.  The  height  was  called  Magrah 
el  Birein,  and  from  it  we  could  look  down  on  Birein,  lying 
somewhat  south  of  west,  green  with  vegetation,  and  espe¬ 
cially  with  grain.  It  took  fifty  minutes  more,  descending 
at  first  a  long  and  steep  declivity,  to  reach  our  camp  at  the 
wells  of  Birein.  Our  path  from  Muweileh  had  been  several 
miles  east  of  that  followed  by  other  travellers,  from  Rus- 
segger  and  Robinson  to  Palmer,  making  a  detour  some  five 
miles  directly  east,  and  then  leading  another  hour  east  of 
north,  afterward  north-west,  and  then  for  nearly  an  hour 
a  little  south  of  west.  Robinson  had  passed  even  wrest  of 
Birein,  and  Russeger  still  farther  west.  Bonar  and  Strauss 
do  not  allude  to  Birein.  Palmer  visited  and  described  the 
place.  The  more  western  route,  according  to  the  accounts 
of  these  travellers,  showed  signs  of  the  same  comparative 
fertility  and  former  occupancy  as  that  which  we  travelled. 
It  was  on  the  fourth  day  from  Nukhl  that  Strauss  observed 
remains  of  earlier  walls  and  terraces,  that  indicated  a  later 
encroachment  of  the  desert.  Bonar  also  found  stone  cir¬ 
cles  and  double  lines,  like  foundation-walls,  in  Wady  Jaifeh, 
ruins  of  considerable  extent  in  Wady  Am,  lines  of  solid 
walls  three  hundred  yards  long  across  Wady  Seram,  to  form 
levels  for  cultivation,  and  remarked  the  increasing  vegeta¬ 
tion  and  the  beginnings  of  cultivation  along  this  part  of 
the  way.  Robinson,  a  little  beyond  El  Ain,  began  to  mark 
the  patches  of  wheat  and  barley  on  both  sides  of  his  way. 
It  is  characteristic  of  the  change  manifest  throughout  this 
region.  At  the  wady,  although  he  crossed  it  far  west,  lie 
found  the  watercourse  “  bordered  with  grass,  daisies,  and 
other  small  flowers,  most  refreshing  to  the  eye  after  so  long 
abstinence.  Indeed,  we  had  found  to-day  more  vegetation 


366 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


in  the  desert  than  in  all  the  way  from  Egypt.”  After  cross¬ 
ing  the  watercourse  we  came  upon  a  broad  patch  of  tolera¬ 
bly  fertile  soil,  capable  of  tillage,  apparently  once  cultivated. 
Across  the  whole  tract  the  remains  of  low  stone  walls  were 
visible.  We  afterward  saw  many  such  walls,  which  were 
obviously  not  constructed  by  the  present  race  of  Arab  in¬ 
habitants,  but  must  be  referred  back  to  an  earlier  period. 
Bonar  first  heard  near  here  the  hum  of  a  bee,  Robinson  saw 
a  lark,  and  Russegger  shot  two  stone-chats.  Palmer  men- 
tions  the  “innumerable”  primeval  remains  on  the  liill-tops 
around  the  mouth  of  Wady  el  Ain,  the  sowing-fields  in  it, 
the  dams  extending  across  it,  and  even  two  caves  excavated 
in  the  vicinity;  and  a  little  farther  on,  in  Wady  Seram,  an 
“  immense  number  of  ruins  belonging  to  the  stone  period, 
covering  all  the  surrounding  hills.” 

Here  is  the  place  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  controverted 
question  of  the  connection  of  the  fountain  Ain  Gadis  and 
the  wady  of  the  same  name  with  the  Scripture  Kadesh. 
Since  the  suggestion  by  Mr.  Rowlands  that  this  was  the 
place,  made  in  1842  and  accepted  by  Williams,  the  view  has 
been  adopted  by  persons  so  eminent  as  Tuch,  Winer,  Kurtz, 
Keil,  Kaliseh,  Knobel,  Fries,  Schultz,  and  lately  Palmer. 
Ritter  was  doubtful,  and  Dr.  Robinson  opposed  the  opinion 
with  more  than  his  usual  ardor,  advocating  the  claims  of 
Ain  el  Weibeh.  Robinson’s  site  has  been  somewhat  gener¬ 
ally  acquiesced  in,  although  Stanley  advocates  the  claims 
of  Petra.5  One  or  two  other  places  have  been  mentioned; 
but  the  main  discussion  lies  between  the  two  places  first  in¬ 
dicated.  Some  have  suggested,  more  or  less  positively,  that 
there  were  two  places  mentioned  in  the  Pentateuch  bearing 
the  same  name,  one  in  connection  with  the  earlier  portion 


5  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  94-96. 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


367 


of  the  history,  during  the  life  of  Abraham,  and  the  other 
after  the  Exodus.  This  expedient  to  escape  a  difficulty  is, 
however,  too  indolent  a  device,  and  is  itself  beset  with  too 
many  objections  to  gain  much  firm  approval.  The  whole 
question,  however,  is  invested  with  difficulties.  We  may  at 
once  recognize  the  description  of  Mr.  Rowlands  as  some¬ 
what  overdrawn,  his  location  confused,  and  his  confidence 
excessive. 

Various  indications  of  the  locality  have  been  drawn  from 
the  Scriptures,  some  of  which  are  too  general,  or  too  unde- 
terminal,  to  aid  in  solving  the  question ;  some  have  been 
apparently  misapplied,  and  a  few  are  serviceable. 

Among  the  points  urged  by  Robinson  and  others,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  are  too  general  and  indecisive : — 1.  That  Kadesh 
was  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  and  also  of  Zin  fNumb.  xiii. 
21 ;  xx.  1 ;  xxxiii.  36).  If  the  wilderness  be  understood,  as 
many  hold  with  probability  (e.  g .,  Baumgarten,  Delitzsch, 
Keil)6  to  be  a  wide  term  for  the  whole  desert  region  south 
of  the  South  Country,  and  the  wilderness  of  Zin  to  designate 
a  specific  part  of  it  (which  seems  as  probable  as  any  view), 
this  description  would  apply  equally  to  the  two  places  in 
question.  2.  It  was  in  “the  uttermost ”  part  of  the  border 
of  Edom  (Numb.  xx.  16).  The  expression  (literally,  “on  the 
edge  of  the  border”)  is  too  wholly  indefinite  to  carry  weight. 
It  would  accord  with  the  Oriental  vagueness  of  expression, 
even  if  Gadis  were  Kadesh,  would  have  an  air  of  compli¬ 
ment  for  the  king  of  Edom,  and  would  be  the  more  applica¬ 
ble  if  the  king  of  Edom  asserted  a  kind  of  authority,  like  an 
Arab  ruler,  over  the  region  west.  It  was  not  on  the  border, 
but  “  on  the  edge  of  the  border.”  3.  Kadesh  was  on  low 
ground  ;  for  the  spies  “  went  up  ”  to  search  the  land  (Numb. 


6  See  Keil’s  Commentary  on  Joshua  x.  41. 


368 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 


xiii.  21,  22) ;  and  the  land  was  “  the  mountain  ”  (xiii.  IT ;  cf. 

xiv.  40,  42,  44,  45).  “  The  mountain  ”  (in  xiii.)  is  clearly  the 

mountainous  regions  of  Palestine ;  for  the  spies  were  to  go 
(not  “  southward,”  but)  to  the  “  south  country,  and  into  the 
mountain  and  see  the  land,”  which  they  virtually  explored 
from  the  wilderness  of  Zin  to  the  neighborhood  of  Hamath 
on  the  north,  they  having  been  gone  some  forty  days.  The 
reference  in  Numbers  xiv.  is  to  another  thins: — a  mountain 
or  “hill-top”  near,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hormali.  There  is  an 
eminence — more  than  one  indeed — between  Gadis  and  the 
place  where  Mr.  Palmer  would  find  Zephath  or  Hormali. 
In  the  East,  too,  a  “going  up”  is  not  necessarily  to  higher 
ground,  but  to  some  eminent  place  or  region,  as  in  the 
“Anabasis,”  and  even  the  going  up  (Luke  ii.  42)  from  Naza¬ 
reth  to  Jerusalem. 

Some  unsupported  statements  have  been  made  concerning 
the  site  of  Kadesh : — 1.  That  it  was  north  of  Mount  Hor. 
But  the  references  given  in  the  “Speaker’s  Commentary” 
(Numb.  xx.  21,  22  ;  Deut.  ii.  8)  do  not  appear  to  warrant  the 
assertion.  2.  That  it  was  but  one  day’s  march  from  Mount 
Hor.  But  the  reference  here,  again  (Numb.  xx.  22),  neither 
contains  nor  clearly  implies  any  such  statement. 

Among  the  marks  that  may  help  to  determine  the  ques¬ 
tion  may  be  enumerated  the  following : — 1.  Kadesh,  besides 
giving  name  to  a  region  of  the  wilderness,  was  a  city  (Numb, 
xx.  16).  Dr.  Robinson  candidly  says  of  El  Weibeh,  “The 
surrounding  desert  has  long  since  resumed  its  rights,  and  all 
traces  of  the  city  have  disappeared.  We  could  find  even  no 
traces  of  former  dwellings.”  But  the  region  around  Gadis,. 
as  I  have  already  mentioned,  abounds  in  old  ruins,  especially 
westward  toward  Muweileh.  Mr.  Palmer  infers,  partly 
from  the  “  extent  of  the  remains,”  that  near  Muweileh  was 
the  site  of  a  large  and  prosperous  city. 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


369 


2.  Kadesli  was  apparently  a  place  occupied  by  the  Israel¬ 
ites  for  a  considerable  time.  The  spies  were  sent  out  from 
it  in  the  second  year ;  the  first  expedition  against  the  Ca- 
naanites  went  thence  ;  they  “  abode  in  Kadesli  many  days  ” 
(Dent.  i.  46).  In  the  fortieth  year  they  came  and  “  abode 
in  Kadesli”  (Numb.  xx.  1).  Miriam  died  here,  and  Israel 
finally  marched  hence  to  Mount  Hor  and  compassed  Edom 
(Numb.  xx.  22  ;  xxi.  4).  Dr.  Robinson’s  remark  seems  quite 
to  undervalue  the  place  when  he  says,  “  There  is  nothing 
which  shows  Kadesli  ever  to  have  been  a  place  of  any  size 
or  importance,  except  in  connection  with  the  journeyings  of 
the  Israelites.”7  Much  more  to  the  purpose  is  Mr.  Porter’s 
statement.  He  remarks  that  “  next  to  Sinai  it  was  the  most 
important  sfage  in  their  journeyings,  and  the  scene  of  the 
most  remarkable  events.”8  Now  as  to  the  places  themselves, 
Dr.  Robinson’s  narrative  shows  that  El  Weibeh  and  the 
whole  vicinity  was  destitute  of  all  signs  of  fertility  or  culti¬ 
vation.  He  saw  verdure  around  a  fountain  two  hours  south, 
and  below  Ain  el  Weibeh  “a  jungle  of  coarse  grass  and 
canes,  with  a  few  palm-trees,  presenting  at  a  distance  the 
appearance  of  fine  verdure,  but  proving  near  at  hand  to  be 
marshy  and  full  of  bogs.”  And  on  leaving  the  fountain  he 
entered  at  once  among  chalk-stone  and  conglomerate  “  hills 
without  a  particle  of  vegetation.”  On  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  sufficiently  indicated  how  different  is  the  region  adja¬ 
cent  to  Gadis.  It  is  on  the  borders  of  a  region  of  compar¬ 
ative  fertility,  where  to-day  the  Arabs  raise  large  fields  of 
grain. 

3.  There  are  indications  that  some  kind  of  sanctity  at¬ 
tached  to  Kadesli.  It  is  Kadesh  (“  sacred  ”) ;  it  is  En  Mish- 
pat  (“  the  fountain  of  judgment”).  There  is  no  foundation 


7  Researches,  ii.  584. 


8  Kitto’s  Biblical  Cyclopaedia,  ii.  '70S. 

24 


370 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


even  for  a  suspicion  that  such  notions  have  ever  attached 
themselves  to  El  Weibeh ;  and  it  would  be  somewhat  re¬ 
markable  that  every  trace  of  such  sanctity  should  disappear, 
traditional  or  monumental.  But  it  is  noticeable  that  in  the 
near  neighborhood  of  Gadis  (about  Muweileh)  are  not  only 
the  primeval  remains  already  mentioned,  but  that  some  of 
them  are  of  a  peculiar  kind.  Says  Mr.  Palmer,  “  The  hills 
around  Muweileh  are  covered  with  relics  of  a  primeval 
people — cairns  and  dwellings  such  as  we  have  noticed  else¬ 
where,  and,  strangest  of  all,  innumerable  well-made  heaps 
of  stone,  placed  with  extreme  regularity  along  the  edges  of 
the  cliffs,  always  facing  east.  They  are  too  small  for  tombs, 
and  too  far  apart  ever  to  have  formed  a  wall:  what  then 
could  they  be  ?  I  am  inclined  to  the  idea  that*  they  are,  in 
some  way  or  other,  connected  with  the  worship  of  Baal ;  the 
altars  of  the  Sun-god  were,  like  these,  on  ‘high  places,’  and 
would  naturally  be  turned,  like  these,  toward  the  east.” 
These  remains  are  not  more  than  three  miles  west  of  the 
fountain,  and  it  may  be  that  they  can  be  found  at  nearer 
points.  While  I  would  not  place  too  much  reliance  on  the 
suggestion,  yet  in  the  one  case  there  is  not  only  the  absence 
of  all  indications,  but  of  all  probability,  of  such  sacred  as¬ 
sociations  ;  in  the  other  there  are  appearances  which,  at  least, 
harmonize  with  the  supposition. 

4.  At  Kadesh  was  a  noted  fountain,  En  Mishpat.  Both 
places  have  fountains,  and  Dr.  Robinson  speaks  of  El  Wei¬ 
beh  as  “  to  this  day  the  most  frequented  watering-place  in  all 
the  Arabah.”  There  are  three  fountains  there,  of  which, 
however,  Dr.  Robinson  himself  informs  us  that  “  the  water 
is  not  abundant,  and  in  the  two  northernmost  sources  has  a 
sickly  hue,  with  a  taste  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen.  But  the 
southern  source  consists  of  three  small  rills  of  limpid  and 
good  water,  flowing  out  at  a  small  excavation  in  the  rock.” 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


371 


In  the  vicinity,  one  and  a  half  or  two  hours  away,  he  men¬ 
tions  “  a  small  spring  of  bad  water”  in  Wady  el  Gliamr,  and 
another  place  (El  Hufeiry)  in  Wady  Jeib,  apparently  not  far 
away,  “  where  water  is  found  by  digging  holes  in  the 
ground,  is  scanty,  and  fails  in  the  summer.”  So  far,  then, 
as  the  water-supply  itself  is  concerned,  Ain  Gadis,  especially 
when  re-enforced  by  Muweileh  and  the  rain-water  collections 
of  Wady  el  Ain,  would  seem  to  have  greatly  the  advantage 
in  importance. 

5.  When  we  inquire  for  any  indication  in  the  traditional 
name,  Dr.  Robinson  mentions  expressly  that  u  all  traces  of 
the  city  and  of  its  very  name  have  passed  away.”  But  the 
connection  between  Kadesh  and  Gadis  is  as  close  as  in 
almost  any  Hebrew  and  Arabic  names  now  identified  by 
modern  scholars.  Dr.  Robinson,  in  a  manner  not  character¬ 
istic  of  his  usual  method,  remarks,  that  out  of  the  name  of 
Ain  Kudeirat  in  a  neighboring  valley  “  Mr.  Rowlands,  or  his 
Greek  dragoman,  seems  to  have  made  Kades  or  Kudes,  and 
on  the  strength  of  this  blunder  assumed  there  the  site  of 
Kadesh.”9  Mr.  Porter  repeats  the  statement.10  But  Mr. 
Palmer  speaks  Arabic  like  a  native,  and  he  gives  the  name 
Gadis.  Our  dragoman  was  an  Arabic-speaking  Syrian,  and 
he  on  the  spot  gave  us  the  name ;  and  wre  heard  it  from  the 
lips  of  Suleiman,  the  sheikh,  who  definitely  declared  this 
fountain  to  be  known  to  all  the  Arabs  as  Ain  Gadis.  There 
is,  therefore,  no  mistake  as  to  the  name,  though  apparently 
some  confusion  as  to  locality. 

6.  The  relations  of  Kadesh  to  the  residence  of  Abram 
and  the  journey  of  Ilagar  bear  upon  the  question.  (I  as¬ 
sume  but  one  Kadesh.)  Ilagar  was  “  in  the  wray  to  Sliur,” 

9  Researches,  second  edition,  ii.  194,  note.  Also  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  May, 
1849,  pp.  378,  379. 

10  Kitto’s  Biblical  Cyclopaedia,  ii.  703. 


372 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


and  “between  Bered  and  Ivadesli”  (Gen.  xvi.  7,  14).  Ga- 
dis,  as  has  been  seen,  lies  just  east  of  and  very  close  to  the 
regular  route  from  Palestine  to  Egypt.  It  is  hard  to  con¬ 
ceive  that,  in  locating  a  well  on  that  route,  a  point  should  be 
specified  more  than  fifty  miles  to  the  east  of  it,  as  El  Weibeh 
is.  Again,  Abraham  “  dwelt  between  Ivadesli  and  Shur,  and 
sojourned  in  Gerar.”  Here,  again,  Ivadesli  lies  apparently 
somewhere  in  the  direction  of  Egypt  from  Hebron.  The 
situation  is  still  further  defined  by  saying  that  he  sojourned 
in  Gerar.  This  last-mentioned  region,  though  ill -defined, 
was  by  general  concession,  from  a  combination  of  all  the  in¬ 
timations,  somewhere  south  or  south-west  of  Beer-sheba,  and 
is  thought  by  some  to  have  extended  as  far  south  probably 
as  the  wilderness.  Though  its  extent  is  wholly  uncertain, 
the  direction  is  certainly  in  conflict  with  the  acceptance  of 
El  Weibeh.  The  main  difficulty  in  regard  to  Gadis  is,  that 
its  distance  south  seems  too  great. 

7.  The  relation  to  Zephath,  or  Hormali,  has  been  brought 
into  the  account.  The  Israelites,  on  their  attempt  to  enter 
Palestine,  were  routed  and  driven  back  as  far  as  Hormali, 
previously  called  Zephath  (Judg.  i.  17 ;  Numb.  xiv.  40-45, 
xxi.  1-3 ;  Deut.  i.  41-44).  It  is  noticeable,  and  shows  the 
vagueness  of  designations,  that  the  Amalekites  and  Canaan- 
ites  (cf.  Numb,  xiv.)  are  generalized  as  the  Amorites  in  Deu¬ 
teronomy.)  Now,  Bobinson  would  find  this  city  of  Ze¬ 
phath  at  the  steep  pass  Es  Sufah,  eight  or  nine  hours  north¬ 
west  of  El  Weibeh.  He  remarks  on  the  substantial  identity 
of  name,  while  the  distance  and  direction  would  answer 
well,  and  the  pass  would  be  a  spot  for  a  military  struggle. 
But,  unfortunately,  lie  could  learn  of  no  ruins  for  a  distance 
of  an  hour  and  a  half.  And,  furthermore,  there  could  have 
been  no  chance  for  a  city  here.  Bobinson  could  not  even 
encamp  anywhere  near  the  pass,  for  “there  was  neither- 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


373 


wood  for  a  fire,  nor  pasture  for  the  camels the  country  be¬ 
yond  was  “  one  of  the  wildest  and  most  broken  we  had  yet 
seen,”  and  he  was  compelled,  though  late  at  night,  to  go 
one  and  a  half  hours  farther  to  find  a  place  for  the  camp. 
Moreover,  the  children  of  Israel  were  not  chased  from  IJor- 
mah,  but  to  Hormah. 

But  there  is  also  a  name  yet  remaining  five  or  six  hours 
north  of  Gadis,  that  corresponds  still  more  closely  to  Ze- 
pliatli,  viz.,  Sebaita.  Seetzen  first  heard  of  it  in  1807,"  and 
Palmer  explored  the  place  in  1869.  Here  are  abundant  re¬ 
mains  of  a  goodly  city  presently  to  be  more  fully  described. 
The  present  remains  are  shown,  by  the  ruins  of  at  least  one 
large  church  and  by  the  masonry  of  the  houses,  to  belong  to 
times  since  the  Christian  era.  But  the  church  (or  churches) 
may  itself  indicate  a  historic  site,  and  the  place  and  vicinity 
admits  of  cities — indeed,  is  in  a  region  of  ancient  cities — 
and  there  are  plenty  of  hills,  especially  north-east,  where  the 
conflict  could  take  place. 

It  should  be  said  that  Hormah  and  also  a  “Kadesli”  are 
enumerated  (Jndg.  xv.  23-30)  among  “  the  uttermost  cities 
of  Judah,  toward  the  coast  of  Edom  southward but  as  the 
list  includes  twenty-nine  cities,  the  designation  of  direction 
must  certainly  be ^ vague,  and  the  force  of  the  argument  for 
a  south-easterly  direction  is  wholly  neutralized  by  the  fact 
that  among  those  twenty- nine  is  Beer-sheba,  in  the  same 
direction  from  Hebron  as  Ain  Gadis. 

8.  The  geographical  situation  of  Kadesh  casts  some  light 
on  the  question.  It  was  south  both  of  Palestine  and  of  the 
South  Country,  and  on  the  edge  of  the  desert  (Numb, 
xxxiv.  4;  Josh.  x.  41 ;  xv.  3  ;  cf.  Ezek.  xlvii.  19  ;  xlviii.  28).  It 

11  Reisen,  iii.  44.  Robinson  heard  of  no  such  place  (Bibliotheca  Sacra,  1849, 
p.  378),  and  says  that  Rowlands  heard  no  such  name  as  Sepata,”  that  particular 
form  being  “  impossible  in  Arabic.” 


374 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


has  been  asserted12  that  Kadesh  lay  “  toward  the  eastern  ex¬ 
tremity  ”  of  this  boundary.  But  the  references  show  to  the 
contrary.  The  second  passage,  indeed,  says  that  Joshua 
smote  them  from  Kadesh-Barnea  even  unto  Gaza,  which, 
while  clearly  locating  Kadesh  eastward  or  south-eastward  of 
Gaza,  does  not  place  it  upon  “  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
south  border.”  All  the  other  passages  not  only  imply  the 
contrary,  but,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  correspond  rather  re¬ 
markably  to  the  region  of  Gadis.  They  most  distinctly 
place  Kadesh  well  to  the  west,  toward  the  “  river  of  Egypt 
and  the  sea.”  Thus,  in  Numbers  xxxiv.  3-5  (as  translated 
in  the  “ Speaker’s  Commentary”),  “Your  south  border  shall 
extend  from  the  wilderness  of  Zin,  which  restetli  upon  the 
side  of  Edom.  And  your  south  border  shall  start  from  the 
extremity  of  the  salt  sea  on  the  east;  and  your  border  shall 
turn  on  the  south  to  Maaleh  Akrabbim  [probably  Nugb 
Kareb,  ten  miles  above  Maderah],  and  shall  pass  on  toward 
Zin;  and  the  extent  of  its  reach  on  the  south  shall  be  to  Ka¬ 
desh-Barnea,  and  it  shall  reach  forth  thence  to  Ilazar-Addar, 
and  shall  pass  on  to  Azmon  ;  and  from  Azmon  the  border 
shall  turn  to  the  river  of  Egypt,  and  its  reach  shall  be  to  the 
sea.”  No  uncertainties  in  regard  to  some  details  can  hide 
the  indications  that  Kadesh  was  well  to  the  west,  toward  the 
river  of  Egypt.  The  description  in  Joshua  xv.  2-4,  is  very 
similar.  In  Ezekiel  xlviii.  28,  it  is  set  forth  more  briefly,  but 
with  the  same  implication,  “At  the  south  side  southward,  the 
border  should  be  even  from  Tamar  unto  the  waters  of  strife 
in  Kadesh,  and  to  the  river  toward  the  great  sea;”  a  de¬ 
scription  certainly  much  more  intelligible  on  the  supposition 
that  Kadesh  was  at  Gadis  than  at  El  Weibeh.  The  situa¬ 
tion  of  Gadis  with  reference  to  the  desert  remarkably  con- 


12  Smith’s  Old  Testament  History,  p.  194. 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


375 


forms.  It  was  on  the  parallel  of  Wady  el  Ain  that  Seet- 
zen  was  told  by  his  Arabs  that  here  begins  the  mountain 
range  called  by  the  Arabs  Et  Till.  Gadis  is  just  south  of 
this  line. 

9.  The  distance  from  Mount  Sinai  corresponds.  It  is  giv¬ 
en  (Dent.  i.  2)  thus :  “  There  are  eleven  days’  journey  from 
Horeb  by  way  of  Mount  Seir  unto  Ivadesh-Barnea.”  Now 
there  are  clear  traces  of  two  ancient  routes  as  old  as  Roman 
times,  and  no  doubt  far  older,  from  Akaba  north-west  to¬ 
ward  Gaza  and  Hebron ;  one  given  in  the  Peutinger  tables 
passing  just  west  of  Jebel  Araif,  and  thus  close  by  Gadis  to 
.Birein,  etc. ;  the  other  east  of  Jebel  Araif  by  Abdeli  (Ebo- 
da)  to  Khalasah,  or  Elusa.13  The  Children  of  Israel  are 
generally  supposed  to  have  gone  from  Sinai  to  Akaba  and 
thence  northward.  Now  Mr.  Palmer  has  fairly  shown  the 
general  correspondence  of  time  according  to  the  Peutinger 
tables  thus :  the  first  day  to  Kibroth-Hattaavah,  the  second 
to  Hazeroth  (supposed  Ain  Hudherah),  four  days  made  by 
the  modern  traveller  to  Elath  (Akaba),  the  seventh  to  Ezion- 
Gaber  (Diana  of  Peutinger),  the  eighth  to  Rasa  of  Peutin¬ 
ger  (unknown),  the  ninth  to  Contellet  Garaiyeh  (supposed 
Gypsaria),  the  tenth  to  Lussan  (Lysa),  the  eleventh  to  Ain 
Gadis.  The  distance  by  the  eastern  route,  striking  the  line 
followed  by  Palmer  in  his  second  expedition,  would  very 
nearly  correspond.  The  time  to  El  Weibeh  would  seem  to 
be  somewhat  short. 

It  may  be  said  there  is  no  passage  through  by  this  eastern 
route  to  Gadis.  But  the  eastern  route  to  Lussan  passed 
through  the  dividing  mountain  range  a  little  north-east  of 
Birein.  Moreover,  the  aspect  of  the  region  north-east  of 
Wady  Ain,  and  south-east  and  north-east  of  Sebaita,  indi- 


13  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  pp.  421,  422. 


376 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


cated  a  comparatively  easy  access.  This  will  show  how  it 
was  possible  for  them  to  come  in  contact  with  King  Arad 
and  be  driven  back  by  him  (Numb.  xxi.  1-3). 

The  relations  of  Mount  Seir  and  of  Edom  have  been  con¬ 
sidered  somewhat  decisive  as  against  this  view.  The  journey 
is  mentioned  as  “  by  way  of  Seir  ”  (Deut.  i.  2).  Hormah.  is 
enumerated  as  among  the  cities  toward  Edom  (Josh.  xv.  21, 
30),  and  the  Amorites  destroyed  the  Israelites  even  unto 
Hormah  (Deut.  i.  44).  But  a  glance  at  the  various  passages 
will  justify  the  opinion  that  the  territory  of  Edom  and  the 
region  of  Mount  Seir  have  been  much  too  strictly  defined 
and  narrowed.  Geographical  lines,  especially  in  a  new  and 
strange  region,  were  sufficiently  loose,  as  is  evident  from  the 
constant  intermingling  of  the  designations  of  tribes  and  ter¬ 
ritories.  It  may  reasonably  be  supposed  that  then,  as  now, 
in  the  same  country,  the  tribal  claims  and  control  extended 
over  a  wide  range,  and  embraced  large  regions  beyond  what 
the  cities  and  villages  occupied.  Thus  the  Tiyahah  Arabs 
claim  a  vast  region  of  desert,  and  suffer  no  other  tribe  to  in¬ 
terfere  with  their  rights  within  these  precincts. 

Now  I  think  it  is  somewhat  apparent,  from  the  passages 
in  question,  that  both  Edom  and  Seir,  and  Mount  Seir,  cover 
a  wide  extent.  It  is  evident  at  once  that  Seir  is  not  a  sin¬ 
gle  mountain  or  mountain  chain,  but  a  region  capable  of 
holding  a  population.  For  “the  children  of  Edom  dwelt  in 
Seir11  (Deut.  ii.  4,  8),  and  the  “Ilorim  dwelt  in  Seir  before- 
time,’1  but  the  children  of  Edom  “  destroyed  them,  and  dwelt 
in  their  stead”  (ver.  12).  The  Amorites  destroyed  the  Israel¬ 
ites  “  in  Seir  unto  Hormah  ”  (Deut.  i.  44).  Now  whatever 
site  is  fixed  upon  for  Hormah  carries  it  into  a  region  wTest 
of  the  Arabah.  So,  too,  among  the  twenty-nine  cities  of 
Judah,  toward  the  coast  of  Edom,  southward,  was  Beer- 
slieba  (Josh.  xv.  28).  These  facts  indicate  a  wide  range  of 


THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


Edom  and  Seir,  westward  of  the  Arabah.  Seetzen  wrote, 
in  1802,  that  the  Wady  el  Ain  (as  already  stated)  was  spec¬ 
ified  bv  his  Sheikh  Sibbens  as  the  commencement  of  the 
mountain  range  of  Et  Tih.  He  adds,  “  Well  defined  as  are 
its  southern  limits  by  its  steep  declivity,  its  northern  boun¬ 
dary  is  ill-defined ;  one  comes  gradually  upon  this  mountain 
range  without  being  aware  of  it.  I  hold  it  [this  mountain 
range  of  Et  Tih]  to  be  Seir,  about  which  the  Israelites  jour¬ 
neyed  from  Sinai  to  Kadesh-Barnea,  on  the  southern  ex¬ 
tremity  of  Palestine.”14 

This  fact  removes  all  objection  to  the  location  of  Kadesh 

as  far  west  as  Gadis,  as  it  would  then  be  only  in  the  general 

direction  of  Beer-sheba.  The  wav  to  Kadesh  from  Horeb 

«/ 

by  Seir,  even  if  this  shows  certainly  that  Israel  travelled 
that  way,  might  still  be  by  the  pass  of  Eli  Nugb,  in  the 
Arabah,  and  thence  north-west,  nearly  on  the  track  and  in 
the  time  of  Robinson  (four  days)  to  Gadis,  near  the  line  of 
the  western  Roman  road;  or  farther  north,  by  Wady  Ghamr 
and  Nuoffi  Ibn  Mar,  over  Palmer’s  track  and  the  eastern 
Roman  road  in  part,  thence  nearly  west.  Indeed,  when 
Robinson  left  El  Weibeh,  still  farther  north,  he  saw  a  great 
track  leading  almost  due  west,  in  a  direction  but  slightly 
north  of  Gadis,  a  track  of  which  his  Arabs  could  give  him 
no  account.15  This  extension  of  Seir  and  Edom  would  make 
easy  a  supposed  difficulty  concerning  the  march  of  the  kings 
in  Genesis  xiv.  They  clearly  took  a  very  wide  sweep.  Pass¬ 
ing  down  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  through  Ashteroth  Karnaim, 
Ham,  Kiriathaim,  thence  through  Mount  Seir  unto  El  Paran 
which  is  u  by  the  wilderness .”  Thence  on  this  wide  circuit 
they  returned  (by  another  route)  and  came  to  En  Mishpat, 
which  is  Kadesh,  and  smote  all  the  country  of  the  Amalek- 


14  Reisen,  iii.  48. 


15  Researches,  ii.  584,  585. 


378 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ites,  and  also  the  Amorites,  which  dwell  in  TIazezon-Tamar, 
or  Engedi.  This  march  through  the  whole  country  of 
the  Amalekites  would  comport  quite  as  well  with  the  loca¬ 
tion  of  Kadesh  at  Gadis  as  at  El  Weibeh,  and  indeed  much 
better,  as  Fries  and  Kurtz  have  shown. 

I  refrain  from  endeavoring  to  identify  by  means  of  the 
mountains  of  the  Amorites,  because  this  nation  seems  to 
have  been  so  widely  scattered.  Yet  Mr.  Palmer  calls  at¬ 
tention  to  the  frequently  recurring  names,  “Amir,”  “Ame- 
ri,”  “  Amerin,”  along  the  region  north  of  Gadis,  as  relics  of 
the  old  name.  It  may  be  said  that  the  distance  of  Gadis 
was  too  far  south  to  harmonize  with  the  relation  of  the 
place  to  Abram’s  residence.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be 
remembered  that  the  spies  were  absent  forty  days  from  Ka¬ 
desh  in  exploring  Palestine  to  Hamath  (Numb.  xiii.  25). 

On  the  whole,  while  it  is  necessary  to  be  cautious  in 
reaching  conclusions  when  many  of  the  data  are  so  vague, 
and  while  it  may  be  that  Kadesh  was  some  point  still  farther 
north,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  very  slight  reason  for  fix- 
ing  definitely  upon  El  Weibeh  ;  almost  nothing,  indeed,  ex¬ 
cept  a  bitter  though  not  copious  supply  of  water.  On  the 
other  hand,  several  of  the  reasons  for  accepting  the  other 
site  are  somewhat  definite  and  specific;  while  the  whole 
vicinity  around  and  beyond  would  offer  a  far  more  probable 
spot  for  an  abode  of  u  many  days,”  and  would  be  more  likely 
to  bring  Israel  into  conflict  with  the  enemy. 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


379 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY  TO  BEER-SHEBA. 

We  were  comfortably,  and  even  delightfully,  situated 
at  Birein.  It  is  a  very  inviting  valley,  with  a  high  rocky 
hill  or  ridge  on  the  north,  and  another  on  the  south.  Our 
tents  were  for  the  first  time  pitched  in  a  genuine  and  heavy 
greensward.  A  little  to  the  east  of  us  were  the  two  wells. 
The  smaller,  which  was  stoned,  was  six  feet  in  diameter, 
appeared  to  be  somewhat  over  twenty  feet  in  depth,  and 
contained  some  eight  feet  of  excellent  water.  Stone  troughs 
stood  around.  The  larger  well  had  its  stone  wall  broken 
away  and  fallen  half  the  way  round.  Its  diameter  was 
about  twelve  feet.  On  the  whole  unbroken  side  were  deep 
marks  of  ropes.  But  the  Arabs  now  descend  on  the  broken 
side  and  dip  directly  into  the  water.  Everything  goes  to 
ruin  in  an  Arab’s  hands.  Some  women  came  with  donkeys 
and  other  animals,  and  poured  water  for  them  into  the 
stone  troughs.  One  woman  came,  followed  by  a  flock  of 
sheep  and  goats ;  first  the  sheep  and  then  the  goats.  Here 
we  also  saw  two  horses  and  a  colt — another  disclosure  of 
the  change  from  the  desert. 

Sheikh  Suleiman  seemed  to  be  in  an  excessively  bad  hu¬ 
mor,  first  with  His  camel  and  afterward  with  us.  ITis  camel 
was  afraid  of  something,  or  in  some  way  refractory ;  and  for 
twenty  minutes  the  sheikh  rode  the  animal  furiously  hither 
and  thither,  with  occasional  beatings,  till  either  the  camel 
or  his  own  passion  was  subdued.  In  the  evening  he  made 


380 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


his  appearance  at  my  tent,  and  in  a  long  talk  remonstrated 
against  all  our  detours  from  the  direct  route.  I  finally  told 
him  that  we  had  come  for  this  purpose,  arranged  with  the 
dragoman  for  it,  and  that  we  should  most  assuredly  do  it 
according  to  our  own  pleasure.  He  hopped  out  of  the  tent 
like  an  angry  child. 

As  we  arrived  before  four  o’clock,  I  had  a  long  time  to 
explore  the  vicinity.  There  were  very  numerous  remains  of 


BEER-SHEBA. 


rude  round  stone  buildings  on  the  hill-sides  and  hill-tops 
near.  On  the  summit  of  the  northern  hill,  on  its  northern 
edge,  was  a  line  of  low  stone  wall,  eight  hundred  feet  long, 
terminating  with  a  circular  cairn  at  the  abrupt  western  de¬ 
clivity.  South  of  this  were  very  numerous  circular  enclos¬ 
ures.  The  whole  surface  was  too  stony  ever  to  have  been 
cultivated.  I  scared  up  two  partridges  on  the  hill-top.  On 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


381 


the  southern  side  of  the  valley,  nearly  opposite  the  wells, 
are  ruins  of  houses,  and  on  the  hill-side,  of  a  square  build- 
in«;  and  a  tower. 

This  whole  wady  (as  well  as  Wady  Um  Ebteimeh  that 
enters  it)  was  once  terraced  for  cultivation.  An  aqueduct, 
a  foot  and  a  half  wide,  laid  in  mortar  or  cement,  leads  from 
the  walls  easterly  to  a  reservoir  built  of  squared  stones. 
Marks  of  ancient  occupancy  are  visible  all  around.  Robin¬ 
son  passed  half  a  day’s  journey  west  of  this  place,  but  found 
water  in  several  pits  dug  in  a  bed  of  blue  clay.  Russegger, 
Bonar,  and  travellers  generally,  seem  to  have  left  Birein  to 
the  east  of  them.  Mr.  Palmer  visited  and  examined  the 
place  carefully. 

We  left  our  delightful  camping-ground  at  Birein  at  eight 
o’clock,  March  12th.  Our  conversation  with  Sheikh  Sulei¬ 
man  the  night  before  had*  chiefly  concerned  our  intention  to 
visit  Sebaita  to-day.  He  doggedly  objected  to  turning  off 
from  the  direct  route,  and  almost  refused.  We  resolutely 
told  him  that  we  had  come  from  America  on  purpose  to 
visit  this,  among  other  places,  and  see  it  we  would.  We 
awaited  the  result  with  some  solicitude.  We  found  this 
morning  that  the  matter  was  settled,  although  he  was  not 
in  a  very  good  humor. 

Our  route  for  two  and  a  half  hours  was  the  same  as  that, 
of  the  loaded  camels,  north-westerly.  We  passed  over  the 
heavy  stone  walls  that  ran  across  Wady  Birein  to  convert  it 
into  a  series  of  levels  for  cultivation  and  to  arrest  the  rush 
of  water,  and  observed  the  remains  of  numerous  round,  rude 
stone  dwellings.  After  a  little,  we  entered  Wady  Ilanein, 
a  spacious  plain  extending  several  miles  north-west  and 
south-east,  and  some  two  or  three  miles  broad  at  its  widest 
part.  We  crossed  it  diagonally.  In  forty  minutes  after 
leaving  Birein  we  came  upon  long  lines  of  stones,  forming 


382 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


great  level  flats  for  cultivation.  The  whole  plain  seemed 
thus  laid  out,  and  was  evidently  once  all  under  careful  and 
laborious  cultivation.  At  nine  o’clock  we  were  in  the  lati¬ 
tude  of  El  Aujeli,  which  rose  on  our  left  a  high  limestone 
ridge,  with  conspicuous  ruins  on  the  top  of  it,  clearly  visible 
with  our  glasses  already  at  the  distance  of  two  miles.  The 
ridge  was  nearly  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  terminated 
with  an  abrupt  descent  at  both  the  northern  and  southern 
ends.  At  a  distance  the  ruins  had  the  appearance  of  fortifi¬ 
cations  on  the  two  extremities.  This  place  had  first  been 
mistaken  by  Seetzen  for  Abdeh,  or  Eboda,  he  having  heard 
at  Hebron  of  the  ruins  of  Abdeh,  and  apparently  leaped  to 
the  conclusion  that  this,  when  he  saw  it,  was  the  place.  Dr. 
Robinson  appears  to  have  heard  the  place  called  Abdeh,  al¬ 
though  his  maps  give  both  names — El  Aujeh  and  El  Abdeh. 
But  Mr.  Bonar  was  distinctly  informed  of  the  difference  by 
his  Arabs,  who  called  this  place  El  Aujeh,  and  informed 
him  that  El  Abdeh  was  a  day’s  journey  to  the  right.  Mr. 
Palmer  settled  the  question  by  a  visit  to  the  real  El  Abdeh, 
or  Eboda.  The  name  of  this  place  was  given  to  us  by  Su¬ 
leiman  simply  as  El  Aujeh. 

The  high  ridge  overlooks  the  broad  valley  of  Hanein, 
which  stretched  away  to  the  south-east.  The  westernmost 
ruin  on  its  summit  is  a  spacious  Greek  church,  a  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  long,  well  built  of  hewn  stones,  the  walls 
of  which  are  in  some  places  still  standing  to  the  height  of 
more  than  twenty  feet,  and  eight  feet  thick.  Some  traces 
of  Greek  letters  are  to  be  found  here.  A  short  distance  to 
the  east  of  it  are  the  remains  of  a  fortress,  also  built  of 
dressed  stones  laid  with  mortar,  nearly  three  hundred  feet 
in  length.  Outside  of  it,  and  perhaps  once  extending  to  the 
brow  of  the  declivity,  and  the  most  prominent  object  seen 
from  a  distance,  is  a  massive  white  wall,  twenty-five  feet 


EL  AITJEH 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


3S5 


high,  and  more  than  half  as  thick.  Within  the  area  of  this 
second  enclosure  is  a  spacious  reservoir  or  grain-pit ;  and 
still  farther  east,  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  a  well,  now 
dry,  cut  forty  feet  in  the  solid  rock,  and  walled  up  eight 
feet  square,  with  masonry  thirty-five  feet  more.  A  huge 
cavern  or  quarry  cut  in  the  hill-side,  Robinson  found  to  be 
the  resort  of  a  multitude  of  pigeons. 

Down  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  the  hill,  at  its  foot,  lie 
the  ruins  of  the  town,  a  confused  mass  of  foundations  and 
hewn  stones,  intermingled  with  broken  pottery.  Among 
them  are  the  apse  and  some  broken  columns  of  another 
church.  Three  wells  were  to  be  seen  here,  dry,  but  one  of 
them  in  good  condition.  On  the  slopes  of  the  hill  are  seen, 
for  the  first  time,  those  rows  and  heaps  of  small  black  stones 
of  which  Mr.  Palmer  seems  first  to  have  learned  the  object, 
called  by  the  Arabs  “grape-mounds.”  They  occur  abun¬ 
dantly  in  this  vicinity.  Robinson  mentions  that  when  he 
visited  the  place,  one  of  the  Azazimeh  Arabs  came  up  and 
violently  scolded  his  guide  for  bringing  Christians  there. 

We  crossed  the  valley  and  rose  upon  an  elevated  platform 
showing  long  lines  of  low  wall.  At  twenty-five  minutes 
after  nine  we  came  to  Wady  Zuweileh,  where  there  were 
two  w^alls  four  feet  thick  across  the  valley,  as  if  to  dam  the 
water,  and  two  other  single  walls.  In  fifteen  minutes  we 
entered  a  series  of  wadies,  in  half  an  hour  more  we  encoun¬ 
tered  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats,  and  in  another  ten  minutes 
turned  nearly  due  east,  toward  Sebaita.  We  entered  at 
once  Wadv  Gurusseh,  which  showed  numerous  stone  walls 
and  cairns,  and  remains  of  an  old  town  of  considerable 
extent.  In  one  hour  more  we  crossed  the  watercourse  of 
Wady  Abyadh.  At  Wady  Sidariyeh,  which  we  reached  in 
another  hour  and  twenty  minutes,  there  was  a  line  of  stone 
wall,  remains  of  a  dam  across  the  valley,  and  side-walls, 

25 


386 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


seemingly  to  conduct  the  water  down  the  valley  for  irriga 
tion.  In  thirty  minutes  we  came  to  four  successive  walls 
running  across  the  valley,  and  a  little  farther  on  to  eleven 
more.  Some  of  them  were  very  thick  and  strong.  In  fifty 
minutes  more  we  entered  Wady  Meshrifeh,  where  there 
were  ten  of  these  dams,  longer  or  shorter,  several  still  ex¬ 
tending  entirely  across  the  valley.  The  first  was  still  three 
feet  high,  strongly  laid  with  large  stones.  A  line  of  wall 
ran  down  along  each  side  of  the  valley,  probably  having 
served  as  aqueducts. 

At  a  quarter  before  two  we  reached  a  height  from  which 
the  plain  of  Sebaita  opened  finely  on  the  right,  a  basin  of 
some  three  or  four  miles  in  diameter,  having  an  opening 
on  the  northern  side,  and  another  sweeping  round  appar¬ 
ently  to  the  south-east.  The  central  portion  of  the  valley 
was  full  of  vegetation,  including  some  grain-crops,  and 
showing  abundant  scarlet  flowers,  while  the  southern  slopes 
wefe  striped  with  flint  “grape-mounds,”  though  not  a  vine  is 
now  within  sixty  miles.  Mr.  Palmer,  indeed,  saw  a  ruined 
wine-press  between  El  Aujeli  and  this  place.  On  the  north¬ 
eastern  and  north-western  slopes  were  a  great  number  of 
walls,  some  of  them  as  if  for  reservoirs,  eight  or  ten  feet 
thick,  one  of  them  opposite  the  ruins  of  the  town,  northerly, 
while  high  up  on  the  north-western  side  rose  the  hill  Mesh¬ 
rifeh,  with  its  conspicuous  fortress-walls.  The  ancient  city 
lay  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  broad  basin  before  us,  al¬ 
though  the  ruins  of  manv  rude  stone  buildings  were  nearer 
at  hand. 

As  we  reached  the  point  that  commanded  the  view, 
Sheikh  Suleiman  showed  or  counterfeited  marks  of  fear. 
He  requested  one  of  us  to  take  down  the  white  sun-umbrella 
with  which  he  was  shading  his  head,  and  to  stop  the  song 
wherewith  he  was  beguiling  the  way.  We  wound  quietly 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


387 


and  rapidly  down  tlie  long  slope  and  across  the  basin,  till 
we  came  to  the  mass  of  once  well-built  houses  and  other 
buildings  of  regular  stone-masonry.  We  took  our  lunch 
under  the  shade  of  a  great  sandstone  church.  The  entire 
building,  as  I  paced  it,  was  externally  about  two  hundred 
feet  long,  and  the  walls  stood  in  many  places  twenty -five  to 
thirty  feet  high,  though  the  stone  was  in  some  parts  crum¬ 
bled  to  powder.  There  was  a  central  apse,  another  on  each 
side,  and  a  fourth  in  a  large  side  chapel.  This  church  stood 
at  the  northern  end  of  the  city.  There  are  remains  of  two 
other  churches.  The  houses  were  well  built,  largely  of 
dressed  stone,  most  of  them  apparently  consisting  of  two 
stories,  the  upper  story  being  supported  by  arches  below.  I 
examined  two  specimens  of  houses  so  constructed,  which 
were  in  good  preservation.  I  observed  several  wells,  one 
of  them  with  a  round  opening,  and  now  containing  water 
about  ten  feet  below  the  surface.  The  chief  mass  of  ruins 
extended  nearly  a  third  of  a  mile  north  and  south,  and  half 
that  distance  in  breadth,  while  the  space  around,  especially 
to  the  north,  was  covered  with  less  pretentious  remains. 
There  are  clear  traces  of  the  streets,  and  indications  of  a 
line  of  enclosing  walls  around  the  city.  This  is  no  doubt 
the  most  remarkable  collection  of  ruins  in  this  singular  re¬ 
gion.  It  is  strange  indeed  to  find  it  in  a  place  now  so  de¬ 
serted.  The  name  was  first  given  by  Seetzen  as  “  Sbetha.” 

About  six  miles  south-east  in  a  direct  line,  but  to  be 
reached  apparently  only  by  a  circuit  on  account  of  interven¬ 
ing  hills,  lie  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  town  of  Eboda,  or  Ab- 
deh.  The  name  had  long  been  known  to  Seetzen,  Robin- 
son,  and  others,  but  the  place  was  first  visited  by  Mr.  Palmer. 
We  did  not  visit  it.  But  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  ruins 
do  not  appear  to  be  so  well  preserved  nor  so  distinctly  de¬ 
fined  as  those  of  Sebaita.  On  a  high  promontory  which 


388 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


overlooks  a  broad  plateau  are  the  remains  of  a  fortress  and 
a  small  collection  of  dwellings,  built  of  squared  stones,  the 
latter  encompassed  by  a  wall.  The  first  contains  a  large  res¬ 
ervoir.  Over  the  door  of  one  of  the  houses  a  cross  is  to  be 
seen.  Some  other  ruins  are  in  the  neighborhood,  while  the 
plateau  around  shows  signs  of  cultivation,  and  grape-mounds 
abound. 

As  we  moved  north  from  Sebaita,  an  Arab  hailed  us  to 
know  why  we  had  halted  there,  and  received  a  saucy  answer 
from  our  dragoman.  We  passed  by  the  high  hill  Meshrifeh, 
covered  with  its  strong  ruined  fortress,  which,  it  has  been 
suggested  by  Palmer,  was  perhaps  the  original  stronghold  of 
Sebaita,  or  Hormah,  while  the  name  Sebaita  itself  certainly 
corresponds  very  closely  to  the  Zepliatli  of  the  Scriptures. 
Meshrifeh  contains  the  remains  of  a  small  church,  of  strong 
fortress-walls,  and  of  ruder  stone  buildings,  apparently  of 
more  primitive  date.  And  though  the  churches  here  and  at 
Sebaita,  and  the  coeval  architecture,  carry  us  back  only  to 
the  earlv  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  there  is  no  reason 
for  supposing  that  they  represent  the  earliest  occupants  of 
the  region,  but  quite  the  contrary.  The  primeval  remains 
throughout  the  region  carry  us  far  back  of  that  time,  and 
these  intermediate  remains  only  the  more  distinctly  inform 
us  of  the  antiquity  of  the  earlier  and  ruder  buildings.  It 
was  in  this  vicinity  that  Mr.  Palmer  found  the  names  Dhei- 
gat  el  Amerin  (“ravine  of  the  Amorites  ”)  and  Pas  Amir,  the 
former  a  little  north  of  Sebaita,  the  latter  some  fifteen  miles 
south-west.  These  and  similar  indications  are  regarded  by 
him  as  reminiscences  of  this  as  the  region  designated  in  the 
Scriptures,  “  the  mountain  of  the  Amorites.” 

At  Sebaita  we  passed  the  northernmost  point  to  which,  on 
any  theory,  the  Israelites  attained  on  their  northward  march, 
and  were  in  the  region  which  Joshua  conquered  only  when 


RUINED  TOWN  OF  SEBAITA 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


391 


he  had  entered  the  land  near  the  middle  of  its  eastern  bor¬ 
der  and  pushed  southward.  And  while  positiveness  of  as¬ 
sertion  is  wholly  unbecoming  where  many  of  the  data  are 
so  dim,  it  is  yet  a  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  find  a  line  of 
march  throughout  which  weaves  in  the  known  facts,  ex¬ 
plains  the  history,  and  is  open  to  no.  fatal  objection.  One 
may  be  permitted  to  rest  satisfied  with  such  a  theory  of  the 
case  till  a  better  is  presented.  I  will,  therefore,  briefly  state 
that  view  of  the  Exodus  and  the  Wandering  which  satisfies 
my  own  mind,  after  looking  over  the  held  and  learning  the 
views  that  have  been  held. 

The  line  of  march  in  Egypt  has  been  sufficiently  indi¬ 
cated.  By  almost  universal  consent,  it  was  first  along  the 
eastern  line  of  Wady  Tumilat.  From  Etham,  somewhat 
differently  located  by  different  writers,  but  perhaps  north¬ 
east  of  Ismailia,  they  “turned,”  and  found  themselves 
hemmed  in  on  the  western  side  of  the  Red  Sea  or  the  Gulf 
of  Suez.  Here  they  could  cross  south-easterly  below  Suez, 
and  the  Wells  of  Moses  would  be  a  natural  camping-ground. 
Marah  and  Elim  fall  naturally  at  Hawwarah  and  Gliaran- 
del.  The  encampment  by  the  sea  is  unmistakable  and  un¬ 
disputed.  Nothing  could  better  answer  for  the  Wilderness 
of  Sin  than  the  oppressively  hot  plain  of  El  Murkha. 
Down  that  plain  some  twenty-five  miles,  and  up  Wady  Fei- 
ran  from  its  mouth,  and  only  over  that  route,  could  the 
“wagons”  have  been  driven  all  the  wav  to  Sinai.  The 
long  weary  march  there  and  thence  would  exhaust  their 
water-supply,  and  their  patience  also,  while  the  Amalekite 
host  would  naturally  seize  the  opportunity  to  cut  them  off 
before  reaching  the  brook  and  oasis  of  Feiran,  and  thus  give 
occasion  for  the  miracle;  and  Rephidim  may  well  be  found 
at  Ilesy  el  Khattatin  and  vicinity.  The  previous  stations, 
Dophka  and  Alush,  we  may  not  attempt  to  identify.  The 


392 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


next  station  mentioned  after  Rephidim  is  “  the  desert  of 
Sinai,”  where,  in  the  third  month,  they  encamped  before  the 
mount  (Exod.  xix.  1,  2),  and  remained  till  the  second  month 
of  the  subsequent  year.  There  is  no  region  in  the  whole 
Sinaitic  peninsula  which  is  so  well  supplied  with  water,  and 
which  affords  such  excellent  pasturage.1  From  Sinai  it  be¬ 
comes  more  difficult  to  trace  the  line  of  march.  But  it 
would  be  natural  that  the  host  should  move  north-easterly 
out  of  Wady  Sheikh  six  miles  from  Jebel  Musa,  along  the 
great  thoroughfare  through  Wady  Sa‘al.  The  region  of  Er- 
weis  el  Ebeirig,  with  its  mysterious  remains,  its  line  of  pas¬ 
sage  for  great  flocks  of  birds,  and  its  vicinity  to  Hudherah, 
might  answer  to  Kibroth-Hattaavah  ;  and  the  copious  spring 
of  Ain  Hudherah  represents  the  etymology  of  Ilazeroth. 
Meanwhile,  there  is  also  a  parallel  route  lying  northward 
through  wadies  Zelegah,  Byar,  and  Ain,  also  containing  wa¬ 
ter  and  vegetation,  not  wholly  disconnected  from  this  south¬ 
ern  route.  Both  turn  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  east¬ 
ern  arm  of  the  Bed  Sea,  and  follow  the  coast  to  Akaba. 
There  is  also  an  easy  pass  directly  from  Wady  el  Ain  up  to 
the  desert  of  Et  Till.  Or  it  would  have  been  practicable, 
apparently,  from  Wady  el  Ain  to  follow  a  track  (that  of 
Baron  Boiler  in  1840)  leading  north-easterly  along  the  edge 
of  the  desert  to  Akaba.  The  Scripture  leaves  here  a  great 
blank.  For  we  simply  read  that  they  removed  from  Ilaze¬ 
roth  and  pitched  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran  (Numb.  xii.  16), 
which  proves  in  the  next  chapter  (xiii.  26)  to  be  Badesh  in 
the  wilderness  of  Paran ;  and  in  the  list  of  stations  (Numb, 
xxxiii.  IS)  it  is  recorded  that  they  removed  from  Ilazeroth 
and  pitched  in  Rithmah.  If  Rithmah  be  identified  with 
Wady  Retemat  (so  Fries  and  Rurtz),  the  close  vicinity  of  this 


1  F.  W.  Holland,  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  412. 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


393 


valley  (“  a  wide  plain,  with  shrubs  and  retem  ”)  to  Gadis 
makes  it  substantially  the  same  place.  Some  understand 
that  Ezion-Gaber  (Numb,  xxxiii.  36)  was  on  the  route  of  this 
first  journey  to  Ivadesh  ;  others  that  it  was  not.  Still,  it 
seems  clear  that  the  line  of  march  did  not  lie  for  any  con¬ 
siderable  distance  up  the  Arabali,  inasmuch  as  Moses  says  of 
this  very  journey  (Dent.  i.  19),  “  When  we  departed  from 
Horeb,  we  went  through  all  that  great  and  terrible  wilder¬ 
ness,  which  ye  saw  by  the  way  of  the  mountain  of  the  Amo- 
rites ;  and  we  came  to  Kadesh-Barnea.”  Assuming  as  set¬ 
tled,  then,  that  they  crossed  the  eastern  portion  of  the  des¬ 
ert,  they  would,  even  if  they  ascended  from  Wady  Ain, 
soon  strike  the  route  leading  from  Akaba  north-westerly 
(afterward  the  line  of  a  Bo  in  an  road),  pass  the  well  of  Eth 
Themed,  cross  Wady  Garaiyeh,  go  by  the  Biyar  Mayin,  or 
west  of  Jebel  Araif  into  Wady  Mayin,  and  thence  north  to 
Gadis ;  or  a  route  ascending  from  the  Arabali  at  Wady 
Ghadyan  (which  may  be  by  derivation  the  same  as  the  Bo- 
man  Diana  and  the  Hebrew  Ezion)  would  bring  them  to 
the  same  point  by  Wady  Mayin.  The  distance  from  the 
head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba  to  Betemat  was  accomplished 
by  Bobinson  in  four  days  and  a  half,  and  may  have  been 
traversed  by  the  Israelites  without  formal  encampments. 
Either  this  last  circumstance  or  the  absence  of  all  notewor¬ 
thy  transactions  would  account  for  the  absence  of  the  names 
of  intermediate  stations.  From  Ivadesh  an  ill-fated  expedi¬ 
tion  ended  with  disaster  and  the  arrest  of  their  northward 
march.  Still  they  “  abode  at  Kadesh  many  days  ”  (Dent.  i. 
46) ;  and  then,  says  the  narrative  (Dent.  ii.  1),  “  we  turned, 
and  took  our  journey  into  the  wilderness  by  the  way  of  the 
Bed  Sea ;  and  we  compassed  Mount  Seir  many  days.” 
Thirty-seven  years  are  otherwise  a  blank.  They  lingered 
at  Ivadesh — some  (Tucli  and  Kurtz)  think  that  portions  of 


394 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


them  never  entirely  left  it.  And  we  may  well  accept  the 
view  of  Fries,  Kurtz,  Schultz,  and  others,  that  they  spread 
themselves  out  widely  in  various  directions,  using  such 
means  of  support  as  the  desert  afforded.  The  “compassing 
Mount  Seir”  may  indicate  their  occupancy  of  the  region 
along  the  mountain  chain  south  of  Ivadesh,  in  the  numer¬ 
ous  wadies  that  lie  between  the  spurs  of  the  central  range 
and  extend  widely  on  both  sides  of  it.  The  amount  of  pas¬ 
turage  in  the  region  west  is  cpiite  extensive,  and  the  arable 
land  is  not  inconsiderable,  while  the  numerous  ancient  re¬ 
mains  scattered  through  the  whole  region  from  Wady  Ga- 
raiyeh  northward  prove  the  former  presence  of  a  great  body 
of  occupants,  who  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  Israelites 
themselves.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  their  residence 
confined  to  the  western  side  of  the  mountain  range.  The 
narrative  seems  to  imply,  and  we  may  understand  that,  more 
or  less  permanently,  they  were  found  on  the  whole  line  to 
Ezion-Gaber.  They  may  have  occupied  wadies  Jerafeh, 
Leyaneh,  Talha,  Beyaneh,  and  others,  all  the  way  to  Wady 
Ghadyan.  The  seventeen  stations  between  Ivadesh  and 
Ezion-Gaber  (Numb,  xxxiii.  19-35)  are  commonly  under¬ 
stood  to  be  encampments  during  this  thirty-seven  years’ 
wandering.  Some  have  understood  that  these  were  simply 
the  head-quarters  of  Moses,  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  the  taber¬ 
nacle,  which  moved  about  from  place  to  place  to  accommo¬ 
date  the  people.  And  as  this  list  gives  the  line  only  in  one 
direction,  southward,  a  repetition  of  these  or  their  equiva¬ 
lents  for  the  subsequent  return  northward,  would  average 
about  a  year  to  an  encampment.  Others  think,  with  per¬ 
haps  less  probability,  that  the  whole  body  of  people  moved 
each  time  with  the  encampment.  Nothing  in  the  narrative 
absolutely  requires  this  supposition.  The  other  view  is 
thought  to  be  supported  by  the  explicit  statements  (Numb. 


RUINED  HOUSES  AT  SEBAITA. 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


397 


xiii.  26 ;  and  xx.  1)  that  at  the  commencement  and  the 
close  of  this  period  “  the  whole  congregation  ”  assembled  at 
Kadesh.  Kurtz  even  calls  attention  to  the  difference  of 
the  statement  in  Deuteronomy  (i.  46),  “Ye  abode  in  Kadesh 
many  days,”  and  that  in  the  following  verse  (ii.  1),  “  Then 
we  turned,  and  took  our  journey.” 

For  thirty-seven  years  and  a  half,  as  there  was  no  prog¬ 
ress  so  there  is  no  record.  But  in  the  first  month  of  the 
fortieth  year,  when  the  whole  congregation  was  assembled 
for  many  days  at  Kadesh  the  second  time,  its  very  con¬ 
siderable  water-supply  gave  out  under  the  heavy  drain 
of  “ the  congregation  and  their  beasts”  (Kumb.  xx.  1-8), 
and  the  lack  was  met  by  miracle.  The  regathering  in 
the  place  where  the  ban  had  been  imposed  was  a  token 
that  the  ban  was  taken  off.  It  was  the  place,  too,  at  or 
near  which  the  several  desert  routes  converge.  The  direc¬ 
tion  from  Gadis  to  Mount  Ilor  is  nearly  due  east.  The 
track  would  naturally  curve  round  southward  by  Jebel 
Araif,  unless  there  be  some  more  direct  passage  through 
the  mountain  range.  At  Mount  Ilor,  where  Aaron  died, 
they  probably  received  the  hostile  message  from  Edom,  and 
thence  “  they  journeyed  by  the  way  of  the  Bed  Sea  to  com¬ 
pass  the  land  of  Edom.”  Two  stations  on  this  track  are 
mentioned  (Dent.  x.  6,  7),  namely,  Gudgodah  and  Jotbath, 
evidently  the  same  as  Ilor-hagidgad  and  Jotbathali  (Numb, 
xxxiii.  32-34),  which  lay  quite  near  Ezion-Gaber.  This 
determines  the  line  of  their  march  down  the  west  side  of 
the  Arabah.  The  people  were  naturally  “  discouraged  ” 
by  the  hard  circuitous  way  before  them,  and  it  was  some¬ 
where  in  this  region  that  they  were  bitten  by  the  tier}7 
serpents.  It  was  on  this  same  track,  half  a  day’s  journey 
north  of  Akaba,  that  Schubert  saw  the  large  dead  snake 
“  with  fiery  spots,”  and  evidently  belonging  to  “  one  of  the 


398 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


most  poisonous  species.”2  The  crossing  and  ascent  from 
the  Arabali  is  supposed  naturally  to  have  taken  place  at 
Wady  Ithro,  very  near  the  northern  end  of  the  Gulf  of 
Akaba.  There  they  would  strike  the  track  that  is  now 
travelled,  and  was  formerly  a  Roman  road,  leading  north¬ 
ward  alone:  the  eastern  side  of  the  Arabali  and  east  of 
Edom,  till  it  turns  west  again  at  the  passage  of  the  Jordan. 
There  we  again  come  upon  their  track. 

To  resume  the  narrative  of  our  own  journey.  About  one 
hour  north  of  Sebaita,  we  crossed  a  wady  (Negrah)  extend¬ 
ing  far  to  the  right,  and  afterward  a  succession  of  wadies, 
most  of  them  sprinkled  with  Bedouin  wheat-fields,  and  very 
much  of  the  region,  before  and  after,  showing  signs  of  for¬ 
mer  laborious  cultivation,  similar  to  those  already  men¬ 
tioned.  The  contrast  to  the  modern  Bedouin  method  was 
often  very  striking.  The  latter  neither  preserves  nor  re¬ 
stores.  In  place  of  the  former  strong  stone  embankments 
and  watercourses,  I  saw  repeatedly  where  the  Arab  had, 
with  his  miserable  plough,  just  scratched  a  transient  channel 
along  the  hill-side,  to  turn  the  water  from  the  slopes  upon 
his  wheat.  As  we  passed  along,  three  ibexes  ran  across  our 
path  till  they  stood  upon  the  hill  like  phantoms,  looking 
down  on  us  for  a  few  moments  and  then  turning  and  disap¬ 
pearing.  A  few  pigeons  also  flew  by. 

About  two  hours  after  leaving  Sebaita  we  came  to  a  suc¬ 
cession  of  sandy  and  barren  downs,  which  continued  for 
half  an  hour,  when  at  length  we  looked  down  on  Wady 
Ruhaibeh,  a  broad  fertile  region,  on  the  western  side  of 
which  a  hill,  Ruhaibeh,  covered  with  stone  ruins,  overlooks 
the  whole  plain.  In  three-quarters  of  an  hour  more  we 
reached  our  camp.  Our  baggage-camels  had  come  from  El 


2  Reisen,  ii.  406. 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


399 


Birein  in  eight  hours.  We  had  passed  no  trees,  I  think,  on 
our  journey  that  day.  Many  sheep  and  camels  were  in 
sight,  cropping  the  grass,  as  we  entered  Wady  Ruhaibeh. 
These  ruins  are  first  mentioned  by  Seetzen  under  the  name 
of  Erhabeh,  and  were  first  examined  by  Robinson.  Our 
camp  was  pitched  near  the  opening  of  Wady  Bir,  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  most  conspicuous  ruins  on 
the  hill.  In  crossing  the  intervening  ridge,  I  passed  a  con¬ 
siderable  number  of  cairns,  and  on  arriving  at  the  height  to 
which  Suleiman  gave  the  definite  name  of  Ruhaibeh,  I 
found  the  remains  of  a  wall  of  heavy  stones  running*  along 
the  brow  of  the  eminence,  and  beyond  them  the  remains  of 
a  great  number  of  stone  dwellings,  so  confused  as  scarcely 
to  enable  one  to  trace  their  form  or  location.  They  covered 
a  large  area,  which  Robinson  estimates  at  ten  or  twelve 
acres,  and  the  probable  population  at  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
thousand.  I  might  not  put  it  so  high.  The  dwellings  ap¬ 
peared  to  have  been  small,  and  built  of  squared  stones. 
There  are  numerous  wrells  and  cisterns  cut  in  the  rock.  I 
did  not  happen  to  see  the  fragments  of  columns  and  entab¬ 
latures  which  Robinson  thought  to  have  belonged  to  a 
church,  an  opinion  in  which  Palmer  concurs.  As  we  rode 
next  morning  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  eminence,  we 
passed,  on  the  hill-side,  before  reaching  the  highest  eleva¬ 
tion,  the  remains  of  three  round  mounds  or  enclosures,  forty 
feet  in  diameter  within.  Dr.  Robinson  was  the  first  to 
identify  the  name  Ruhaibeh  with  the  Scripture  Rehoboth, 
and  his  identification  is  generally  accepted.  These  are  the 
chief  ruins,  although  others  are  found  in  the  vicinity. 
Palmer  mentions,  on  the  hill-side  overlooking  his  camp  in 
Wady  Ruhaibeh,  some  square  towers  of  massive  masonry, 
one  of  them  still  twenty  feet  high,  with  a  loop-hole  in  the 
wall.  In  the  valley  bed  he  also  found  an  old  well,  now  so 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


dOO 

covered  with  the  debris  of  the  edifice  built  over  it,  as  scarce¬ 
ly  to  be  distinguishable.  At  some  little  distance  eastward, 
in  Wady  es  Sadi,  the  same  traveller  also  found  the  remains 
of  a  less  extensive  settlement,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
length,  comprising  a  well  of  immense  proportions,  and  ap¬ 
parently  of  very  great  antiquity ;  and  still  farther  east  to¬ 
ward  Sebaita,  another  old  well  with  immensely  massive 
masonry,  pointing  to  a  very  ancient  date,  and  near  it  some 
ruins  showing  a  broken  capital  of  a  Corinthian  pattern. 
Bonar  mentions  extensive  ruins  in  Wady  Ruhaibeh  rather 
too  indefinitely  to  identify  exactly,  but  he  specifies  some 
large  and  well-defined  buildings,  one  measuring  forty-five 
by  fifty-two  feet,  another  thirty-three  by  forty,  divided  into 
compartments,  with  remains  of  “  pillars  or  corner  orna¬ 
ments.” 

It  will  be  observed  what  a  remarkable  contrast  exists  be¬ 
tween  the  present  and  the  former  condition  of  this  whole 
region  of  the  Negeb  adjacent  to  the  wilderness.  In  a  coun¬ 
try  where  there  is  not  for  miles  and  miles  one  permanent 
dwelling,  there  was  once  gathered  a  large  body  of  settled 
inhabitants.  Within  a  space  of  twenty  miles  by  twelve  lie 
these  five  seats  of  population,  El  Birein,  El  Abdeh,  El  Aujeh, 
Sebaita,  and  Buhaibeh,  each  of  the  two  last  undoubtedly 
occupied  by  several  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  southern¬ 
most  of  the  five  within  less  than  twenty  miles  of  the  edge 
of  the  desert.  And  though  the  chief  ruins  now  found  at 
the  principal  places  date  only  from  some  unknown  period 
early  in  the  Christian  era — perhaps  the  fourth  or  fifth  cen¬ 
tury —  some  of  the  remains  are  far  older,  while  the  later 
occupancy  and  cultivation  clearly  indicate  the  probable,  or 
certainly  possible,  condition  of  things  in  earlier  times.  The 
lack  of  earlier  and  fuller  knowledge  of  these  places  is  due, 
in  part,  apparently  to  the  jealousy  of  the  present  Arab  oc- 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


401 


cupants,  by  reason  of  which  travellers  have  been  conducted 
to  the  west  of  these  more  fertile  regions.  The  same  jeal¬ 
ousy,  increased  by  positive  fear,  would  have  resisted  the 
approach  of  Israel,  and  brought  on  conflicts.  These  facts 
require  to  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  discussion 
of  the  probable  route  of  Israel. 

We  left  Ruhaibeh.  at  ten  minutes  before  eight,  on  the 
13th  of  March.  Two  Arabs  were  ploughing,  each  with  one 
camel  and  the  common  scratching  implements  of  the  East. 
An  hour  later,  low  walls  were  in  sight  along  the  plain  near 
a  hill-side,  and  soon  after  three  ibexes  made  their  appear¬ 
ance  and  disappearance  on  our  left.  At  half-past  nine  we 
came  to  wheat-fields  in  a  broad  valley,  where  numerous  low 
stone  walls  ran  obliquely  across  the  plain.  In  the  grain 
were  landmarks ;  some  of  them  single  stones,  others  heaps 
of  small  stones.  Birds  were  singing  and  flitting  about,  and 
it  seemed  much  like  a  morning  in  May  at  home.  It  was 
about  a  month  later  in  the  year  that  Robinson  saw  and 
heard  along  this  region  larks,  nightingales,  and  quails.  At 
ten  o’clock,  sheep,  goats,  asses,  and  five  horses  came  in  sight. 
At  a  quarter  before  eleven,  or  about  eight  miles  from 
Ruhaibeh,  we  arrived  at  another  former  site  of  a  large  pop¬ 
ulation —  Khalasah,  the  Roman  Elusa.  First  we  came  to 
a  deep  excavation  like  a  reservoir ;  then  followed  a  space 
of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  scattered  over  with  fragments  of 
pottery.  Then  we  crossed  a  deep  water-slied,  and  mounted 
an  eminence  covered  with  promiscuous  heaps  of  squared 
stones.  Rear  the  bank  was  a  well,  about  twelve  feet  in 
diameter  and  twenty  feet  deep,  now  dry.  Beyond  were 
several  acres  of  scattered  stones,  covering  the  eminence, 
mingled  with  fragments  of  pottery.  Several  excavations 
disclosed  the  foundation-walls  of  buildings.  On  the  left 

we  saw  where  the  torrent  had  washed  away  the  bank,  and 

26 


402 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


left  a  stone  well,  almost  entire,  projecting  several  feet  above 
the  ground.  Here  must  have  been  a  large  town :  the  con¬ 
jectural  estimate  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  inhabitants 
does  not  seem  excessive.  It  was  once  the  site  of  a  “  bishop- 

•  55 

nc. 

Before  and  after  reaching  Khalasah,  we  crossed  a  succes¬ 
sion  of  sandy  downs,  of  which  the  sand  is  said  to  have  come 
from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  Just  before  arriving 
here,  I  found  the  most  showy  specimen  of  an  iris  that  I  ever 
met  with.  About  an  hour  from  Khalasah  we  left  the  sand¬ 
hills,  descending  into  a  broad  level  space,  which  occupied 
half  an  hour  in  crossing,  and  came  to  Wady  Martabeh  to 
lunch.  Soon  after  leaving  this  place  I  saw  one  small  tree, 
the  only  one  to-day,  so  completely  has  this  region  been  de¬ 
vastated  of  its  wood.  Marks  of  former  habitations  and 
walls  on  each  side  showed  themselves  as  we  descended 
Wady  Erweiha.  I  had  long  had  my  eyes  on  the  distant 
hills,  which  I  knew  must  be  in  Palestine ;  and  at  length  we 
reached  a  high  point,  from  which  we  looked  down  on  a  long 
slope,  and  before  us  lay  the  great  Wady  es  Seba,  extending 
nearly  due  west,  and  in  it  Bir  es  Seba,  or  Beer-sheba.  A 
watercourse  ran  along  the  middle  of  the  wady :  on  both 
sides  the  ground  wras  a  bright  green,  and  on  the  northern 
side  of  the  watercourse  we  could  distinctly  see  the  principal 
well,  surrounded  by  its  stone  troughs.  Camels  and  donkeys 
appeared  in  the  background,  and  paths  leading  to  the  well. 
It  took  twenty  minutes  more  of  accelerated  motion  to  reach 
the  farther  side  of  the  watercourse,  climb  the  bank,  some 
ten  feet  high,  and  stand  by  the  smaller  of  the  two  wells  still 
in  use.  It  was  quite  near  the  bank,  was  about  five  feet  and 
a  half  in  diameter,  well  stoned,  and  the  stones  fluted  by 
bucket-ropes.  It  seemed  forty  feet  to  the  water.  From 
this  we  passed  perhaps  sixty  rods  to  the  principal  well, 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  COUNTRY. 


403 


which  was  twelve  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  wa¬ 
ter  stood,  as  we  judged,  about  forty  feet  from  the  top.  It 
was  thoroughly  walled  with  massive  stones,  and  these  were 
cut  with  the  ropes  of  ages  into  “one  hundred  and  forty- 
three  flutings”  (according  to  Tristram’s  count),  “the  shallow¬ 
est  of  them  four  inches  deep.”  We  were  by  the  wells  of 
Abraham,  and  on  the  soil  of  Palestine.  In  the  near  neigh- 
borhood  were  stone  division  lines,  and  stones  of  former  hab¬ 
itations.  The  region  all  around  bore  the  aspect  of  being 
much  frequented,  and  in  a  deep  ravine  between  the  wells  I 
saw  the  nitre  of  ages  on  the  edges  of  the  ravine.  The  scat¬ 
tered  vestiges  of  buildings  continue  for  two  or  three  miles 
along  this  northern  bank.  Not  far  from  the  eastern  well 
Palmer  and  Tristram  have  both  discerned  distinct  traces  of 
a  Greek  church.  The  southern  bank  of  the  watercourse  is 
protected  by  a  solid  line,  or  wall,  of  heavy  stones,  laid  along 
its  edge.  As  we  moved  onward  we  passed  a  dry  well,  now 
showing  a  depth  of  about  four  feet.  The  Arabs  say  that 
there  are  four  others  (also  now  dry),  making  seven  :  Bir  es 
Seba — “  well  of  the  seven.”  Robinson  says  there  is  “  not 
the  slightest  historical  or  other  ground  for  supposing  seven 
wells  here.”  But  Mr.  Tristram  claims  to  have  seen  five  of 
them,3  and  Mr.  Palmer,  after  speaking  of  these  that  we  saw, 
affirms  that  “  there  are  traces  of  the  other  four  wells  that 
once  existed  here.”4  Abraham  planted  here  a  grove,  ac¬ 
cording  to  many  of  the  earlier  versions,5  or  a  tamarisk,  ac¬ 
cording  to  many  later  expositors.6  But  no  tree  is  now  any¬ 
where  in  sight ;  a  fact  which  gives  a  singular  air  of  nudity 


3  Land  of  Israel,  p.  380. 

4  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  388.  The  Hebrew  Ber-sheba  means  “  well  of  the 
oath,”  or  “  of  seven.”  Lieutenant  Conder  saw  but  three. 

5  Yulgate,  Aquila,  Samaritan,  Jerusalem,  Targum  I.  and  II. 

6  Knobel,  Keil,  Kalisch,  Fiirst,  and  others.  Septuagint  (badly),  dpovpa. 


404 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


to  hill  and  valley  all  around.  Here,  then,  Abraham,  Isaac, 
Jacob,  and  Samuel  and  Elijah,  had  been  before  us.7 

After  lingering  awhile  around  this  historic  centre,  we 
moved  on  for  three-fourths  of  an  hour,  passing  on  the  way 
other  walls  and  ruins,  and  camped  in  Wady  Seba,  in  a  ver¬ 
dant  plain,  reddened  with  flowers,  and  having  a  small  well 
of  pure  water  near  the  centre.  We  were  now  manifestly  in 
a  different  country  from  either  the  desert  or  the  Negeb.  It 
was  an  undulating  region,  not  unlike  a  rolling  prairie  at 
the  West,  but  less  green.  Low  hills  around  were  covered 
with  soil  and  verdure,  little  birds  flew  round  in  flocks,  and 
distant  lines  of  mountains  were  no  longer  absolutely  ragged 
and  bald.  It  seemed  almost  like  getting  home  once  more. 
But  the  eye  wished  still  for  the  sight  of  trees  and  inhabi¬ 
tants.  Not  a  tree  was  to  be  seen  in  any  direction  from  our 
camp. 

We  had  been  travelling  all  day  through  the  favorite  re¬ 
gion  of  Isaac’s  sojournings;  but  his  last  resting-place  lay 
another  day’s  journey  beyond,  in  Hebron. 


7  Lieutenant  Conder  thinks  he  has  “discovered”  the  masonry  of  the  wells  of 
Beer-sheba  to  be  less  ancient  than  has  been  commonly  supposed.  “  Fifteen 
courses  down  on  the  south  side  of  the  large  well  there  is  a  stone  with  an  in¬ 
scription  in  Arabic,  dated,  as  well  as  I  could  make  out  [!],  505  a.h.,  or  in  the 
twelfth  century”  (Tent  Work,  ii.  96).  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  did  not 
“make  out”  the  facts  with  certainty. 


THE  HILL-COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH. 


405 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  HILL-COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH. 

March  14 th. — We  left  camp  a  little  before  eight  o’clock. 
As  we  moved  along  the  old  path,  small  bits  of  pottery  lay 
scattered  on  the  soil  for  a  long  distance — a  fact  which  we 
repeatedly  observed  during  the  day.  We  followed  Wady 
Khalil,  in  which  at  intervals,  for  hours,  we  saw  the  water 
standing  in  small  pools — enough  to  furnish  for  the  present 
a  supply  for  the  Bedouin  and  their  flocks.  At  twenty  min¬ 
utes  before  nine  we  came  to  a  regular  dam,  running  diago- 
nally  across  the  water-bed,  eight  feet  high  and  fifty  or  sixty 
feet  long,  constructed  of  large  stones,  filled  in  with  smaller 
ones,  and  laid  in  cement.  It  was  broken  away  in  parts. 
The  country  continued  undulating,  covered  with  green,  and 
hemmed  in  by  low  lines  of  hills  in  the  distance.  The  birds 
were  abundant,  and  musical.  The  home-like  feeling  was 
deepened,  as  I  walked  by  a  black  Arab  tent,  by  the  offer  of 
a  cup  of  coffee  from  the  old  Bedouin  inhabitant.  We  soon 
came  to  another  broken  dam,  laid  with  mortar  or  cement. 
Numerous  and  extensive  wheat-fields  succeeded.  Saturday, 
in  the  forenoon,  we  came  upon  a  true  pastoral  scene.  About 
fifty  black  and  brown  Bedouin  tents  lay  on  the  hill-side  east 
of  our  path,  and  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats,  straggling  cam¬ 
els,  donkeys,  and  a  herd  of  cattle,  were  seen  in  various  di¬ 
rections.  W omen  and  children  were  moving  about  the 
tents.  One  woman  and  several  donkeys  were  coming  from 
the  north-western  slopes,  all  laden  with  small  brushwood  for 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


40  G 

fuel.  We  found  still  other  flocks  and  herds  beyond.  At 
half-past  eleven  a  few  scattering  trees  appeared,  high  on  the 
hill-side,  and  in  ten  minutes  more  we  found  traces  of  stone 
dams  and  terraces  along  the  wady  we  were  following.  The 
lateral  wadies  showed  each  two  or  three  successive  water  or 
terrace  dams,  and  lines  of  low  stone  division-walls  could  be 
seen  on  the  hills.  We  shortened  the  way  by  leaving  the 
wady  and  climbing  a  hill  for  ten  minutes,  and  passed  the 
ruins  of  former  dwellings  on  the  way.  At  twelve  o’clock 
we  descended  sharply  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill,  and  by 
a  delightful  winding  passage,  where  the  hill-side  was  blazing 
with  scarlet  anemones  (perhaps  the  “  lilies  of  the  field  ”),  we 
again  entered  Wady  Khalil. 

From  this  point  we  steadily  followed  the  tortuous  course 
of  the  wady.  Soon  the  hills,  which  shut  in  close  and  high, 
showed  remains  of  stone  terraces,  long  since  laid  in  utter 
ruin,  while  division-walls,  sometimes  composed  of  large  and 
unwieldy  stones,  here  and  there  ran  over  the  hill-tops  down 
to  the  wady  and  up  on  the  other  side.  Possibly  they  may 
mark  divisions  as  old  as  the  occupancy  by  the  families  of 
Judah.  Here,  too,  all  the  side -valleys  were  crossed  by  a 
series  of  dams.  In  the  wady  which  formed  our  road,  we 
passed  in  an  hour  and  a  half  through  no  less  than  sixty-four 
dams,  many  of  them  large  and  strong,  formed  to  retain  the 
soil  in  successive  cultivable  plats,  to  flow  the  level  with  wa¬ 
ter,  and  break  the  force  of  the  torrent.  Every  one  of  them 
was  broken  through,  sometimes  almost  wholly  torn  away. 
Grass  was  growing  occasionally,  but  only  on  the  narrow 
side-strips  of  soil  which  the  torrent  had  spared.  The  scene 
was  characteristic  of  Bedouin  cultivation,  and  well  marks 
the  almost  incalculable  difference  between  the  former  days 
and  these.  At  half-past  one  o’clock  we  reached  Dhahariyeh, 
expecting  to  proceed  the  same  afternoon  to  Ilebron.  But 


THE  HILL -COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH. 


407 


it  was  the  place  where  other  camels  and  men  must  be  pro¬ 
cured,  and  the  usual  annoying  delay  took  place,  although 
camels  were  owned  here  in  abundance.  So  we  encamped 
upon  the  genuine  grass  sod,  near  two  large  olive-trees,  in  an 
open  space  just  south-east  of  the  small  town.  We  had  lei¬ 
sure  therefore  to  look  around.  It  is  interesting  from  the  fact 
that  its  dwellings  consist  quite  largely  of  caves  cut  in  the 
rock,  and  the  site  is  one  which  evidently  has  been  occupied 
from  very  ancient  times.  These  cave-dwellings  and  n umer- 
ous  other  caves  on  the  way  to  Hebron,  which  Ilobinson  men¬ 
tions  as  being  occupied  by  the  peasants  through  the  whole 
pasturage  season,  are  among  the  facts  which  certainly  help  to 
give  color  or  relief  to  the  traditional  assignment  of  so  many 
of  the  Scriptural  transactions  to  caves.  The  cave-dwellings 
at  Dhahariyeh,  as  Palmer  well  remarks,  very  likely  have 
been  inhabited  by  generation  after  generation  from  the  time 
when  they  were  occupied  by  the  old  Horite  race.  A  large 
pool  of  water  lay  outside  the  entrance  to  the  village,  and 
seemed,  for  the  present,  at  least,  to  be  its  principal  source  of 
supply.  We  climbed  the  hill  on  the  east  of  our  camp  and 
of  the  village,  and  found  on  the  edge  of  a  limestone  cliff 
two  wells  or  cisterns  with  round  openings  eighteen  inches 
in  diameter,  and  having  the  openings  filled  with  a  stone. 
There  were  other  wells  and  excavations  in  the  neighborhood. 

On  returning  to  our  tents,  we  found  ourselves  surrounded 
by  a  noisy  crowd  of  men  and  boys  peeping  into  them,  and 
we  made  earnest  efforts  to  expedite  our  departure  from 
a  very  undesirable  place.  Meanwhile,  our  Arabs  took  a 
pleasant  leave  of  us  to  start  on  their  home -trip.  But  the 
Sheikh  Suleiman  did  not  appear  to  advantage.  He  hung 
about  us  pitifully  for  a  backsheesh,  and  asked  us  directly, 
although  he  knew  well  that  our  dragoman  had  the  whole 
responsibility  of  that  matter,  and  notwithstanding  his  own 


408 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


petulant  ill-behavior  on  the  journey.  We  gave  him  none; 
hut  lie  did  not  leave  us  until  he  had  petitioned  for  various 
small  articles  about  our  tents  and  equipments,  among  them 
even  a  piece  of  cord.  We  gladly  parted  company  with  him. 

March  15 th. — Notwithstanding  all  pur  efforts  to  travel 
the  short  distance  to  Hebron  very  early  in  the  morning,  and 
have  a  long  quiet  day  in  that  venerable  place,  it  was  half¬ 
past  eight  o’clock  before  we  got  away  from  the  noisy  crowd 
at  Dhahariyeh.  From  our  carnping-ground  we  rose  almost 


HEBRON. 


immediately  to  a  height  from  which  we  looked  out  upon  a 
region  of  “hills  and  valleys.”  All  along  there  were  re¬ 
mains  of  terraces  on  the  hill-sides  and  by  the  path,  showing 
how  once  every  foot  of  ground  was  economized.  We  fre¬ 
quently  saw  men  ploughing,  sometimes  with  a  camel,  and 
oftener  with  a  yoke  of  cattle.  We  repeatedly  saw  three 
teams  in  the  same  field,  and  in  one  instance  six — half  the 
number  with  which  Elisha  was  found  by  Elijah.  The 
plough  is  still  substantially  the  same  as  the  old  rude  imple¬ 
ment,  having  one  handle,  and  scratching  the  ground  two  or 


THE  HILL-COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH 


409 


two  and  a  half  inches  deep.  The  whole  implement  is  light 
enough  for  a  man  to  carry  easily  on  his  shoulder.  And,  as 
by  reason  of  its  slightness,  it  cannot  be  set  in  a  furrow,  like 
an  occidental  plough,  it  requires  the  whole  attention  of  the 
ploughman  to  guide  it.  One  of  our  number,  who  was  a 
farmer  in  early  life,  undertook  in  one  place  to  plough,  and 
soon  found  that  he  could  not  “look  back”  nor  around,  but 
must  give  his  sole  attention  to  his  plough. 

At  half-past  ten,  in  Wady  Burghais,  we  found  a  stream  of 
water,  and  in  rapid  succession  three  springs  issuing  from  the 
rocks  near  our  path  and  flowing  across,  and  (at  twenty  min¬ 
utes  after  eleven)  a  small  brook ;  then  in  a  few  rods  another 
stream,  filling  a  stone  reservoir  about  twenty-five  feet  square. 
A  few  minutes  more  brought  us  to  still  another  stream, 
much  like  a  New  England  brook,  in  a  valley  that  spread  out 
wide  and  fertile  on  either  side.  Here,  besides  the  usual 

j 

terraces,  there  were  hewn  stone  foundations  and  a  little 
spring  with  a  reservoir.  We  were  now  most  manifestly  in 
the  “land  of  hills  and  valleys,”1  and  “a  land  of  brooks  of 
water,  of  fountains  and  depths  of  water  that  spring  out  of 
valleys  and  hills.”2 

At  a  little  after  twelve  we  rose  to  a  height  where  we  saw 
in  advance  a  hill  sprinkled  with  olive-trees,  the  whole  re¬ 
gion  divided  by  stone  walls,  and  green  fields  interspersed 
between  masses  of  rock.  Perhaps  no  one  aspect  of  Pales¬ 
tine,  along  its  central  line  of  hills,  both  here  and  north  of 
Jerusalem,  strikes  the  stranger  more  with  surprise  than  the 
amount  and  roughness  of  its  rock  surface.  It  is  not  unlike 
the  stony  parts  of  New  Hampshire  in  this  respect.  At  the 
first  glance,  especially  in  its  present  wretched  desolation  and 
neglect,  under  a  government  that  crushes  all  the  hopes  of 


1  Deut.  xi.  11. 


2  Deut.  viii.  7. 


410 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


industry,  and  in  possession  of  a  people  that  destroy  and 
never  replace,  the  thought  of  the  superficial  observer  is  that 
of  disappointment.  He  sees  it  almost  treeless,  rocky  and 
rough  and  neglected,  and  thinks  that  it  is,  after  all,  a  much 
overrated  and  overpraised  country.  But  when  he  looks 
more  closely,  lie  perceives  that  all  this  rock,  being  limestone, 
and  not  sandstone  nor  granite,  when  it  pulverizes,  carries 
with  it,  not  barrenness  but  fertility.  lie  observes  how  the 
noble  olive  grows  in  successive  tiers  up  the  sides  of  seeming¬ 
ly  hopeless  hills,  what  sunny  exposures  are  everywhere  of¬ 
fered  to  the  vine,  and  how  green  are  the  wheat-fields  even 
when  wedged  in  among  the  cliffs — and  how  all  these  hills 
appear  once  to  have  been  diligently  and  laboriously  laid  out 
in  terraces  almost  to  their  tops — and  he  changes  his  mind. 
He  travels  through  a  multitude  of  fertile  valleys,  and  crosses 
plains  like  that  of  Esdraelon,  as  rich  of  soil  as  a  western 
prairie,  almost  abandoned  now.  He  passes  from  the  deep 
tropical  valley  of  the  Jordan  by  the  Head  Sea  to  the  high 
mountains  of  Galilee,  and  the  still  higher  range  of  Lebanon, 
and  sees  how  this  little  country,  not  larger  than  Wales,  is 
fitted  to  produce  almost  every  species  of  fruit  or  grain  of 
whatever  climate  upon  the  globe.  And  as  he  watches  the 
brooks  and  springs  of  water,  and  the  singular  variety  of 
surface,  orchards,  glens,  bold  mountains,  fertile  flowery 
plains,  picturesque  sites  such  as  those  of  Jerusalem,  Hebron, 
Samaria,  and  a  multitude  of  other  places,  he  cannot  but 
perceive  how,  in  its  palmy  days,  when  the  heights  were 
crowned  with  foliage,  the  hill-sides  with  cattle,  and  the 
fields  with  grain,  Palestine  must  have  been  indeed  a  good¬ 
ly  land,  presenting  to  its  children  home  attractions  and  in¬ 
extinguishable  recollections  beyond  even  those  of  Scotland, 
Switzerland,  or  Hew  England. 

From  this  eminence  of  which  I  have  just  spoken  we  de- 


THE  HILL- COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH 


411 


scended,  and  our  way  bent  round  in  a  valley  lined  with 
wheat-fields,  vineyards,  and  olive  orchards.  After  another 
sharp,  rough  ascent,  we  looked  forth  and  down  upon  the 
ancient  and  venerable  city  of  Hebron.  It  was  a  beautiful 
sight.  A  large  circular  basin  of  rocky  hills  opened  before 
us,  lined  on  their  slopes  with  patches  of  olive  plantations, 
and  within  these  a  compact  mass  of  gray  limestone  houses, 
with  rounded  domes.  On  the  nearer  edge  lay  a  blue  sheet 
of  water,  and  up  the  hill-side  the  great  conspicuous  Ilaram 
building,  where  rest  the  ashes  of  the  patriarchs. 

We  had  scarcely  made  our  halt  on  the  open  space  south 
of  the  city,  when  we  were  visited  by  Eleazer  Isaac  Shap- 
pira,  a  Jew,  who  had  lived  in  California,  Holland,  and  Ger¬ 
many,  although  his  home  was  here.  He  spoke  English  with 
fluency  and,  along  a  certain  track,  with  intelligence.  After 
lunch  we  took  him  for  our  guide. 

We  found  the  streets  narrow,  and  in  places  exceedingly 
dirty,  and  often  crossed  by  long,  dark  arched  passages.  The 
alleged  place  of  David’s  palace  is  now  covered  by  a  tannery. 
The  larger  of  two  ancient  pools  (one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  feet  scpiare),  enclosed  by  solid  masonry,  is  somewhat 
generally  supposed  to  be  the  “pool  in  Hebron”3  where  the 
murderers  of  Isli-bosheth  were  exposed.  The  two  pools 
furnish  the  chief  water-supply  of  the  place.  Our  guide 
took  us  a  thirty-minute  walk  northward  to  see,  not  Abra¬ 
ham’s  but  “Adam’s  Oak,”  as  he  called  it,  a  magnificent  tree 
in  the  midst  of  vineyards.  We  did  not  measure  it  care¬ 
fully,  but  made  it  out  to  be  nearly  twenty-five  feet  in  cir¬ 
cumference.  It  was  the  first  oak  we  had  seen  since  leaving 
Europe,  and  it  marked  conspicuously  the  changed  region  to 
which  we  had  now  come.  We  went  and  returned  by  a  path 


3  2  Sam.  iv.  12. 


412 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


between  high  stone  walls.  We  passed  a  small  covered  pool 
called  “  Jacob’s  Well.”  On  each  side  were  vineyards,  con¬ 
sisting  of  old  large  vines,  kept  about  six  feet  high,  and  sup¬ 
ported  commonly  by  a  crotched  stake.  Fruit-trees — olive, 
almond,  fig,  pomegranate,  mulberry  —  abounded,  and  every 
portion  of  the  surface  in  this  vicinity  seemed  to  be  econo¬ 
mized  for  purposes  of  cultivation,  somewhat  as  the  whole 
land  must  have  been  in  former  days.  I  took  with  me  some 
grape-vine  cuttings;  but  the  heat  of  the  long  subsequent 
journey  destroyed  their  vitality,  so  that  they  failed  to  ger¬ 
minate  at  home,  as  did  also  an  acorn  from  the  great  oak. 

But  the  most  attractive  object  in  the  ancient  town  that  is 
seven  years  older  than  “Zoan  of  Egypt”  is  the  Haram,  the 
building  which,  by  joint  consent  of  Christian,  Mohamme¬ 
dan,  and  Jewish  tradition,  supported  by  the  conclusions  of 
modern  scholarship,  enclosed  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  the 
last  resting-place  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  Isaac  and  Re¬ 
becca,  Jacob  and  Leah.  It  stands  high  up  the  slope  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  valley,  conspicuous  at  a  distance  for  its 
size.  It  bears  not  quite  the  same  proportion  to  the  small 
surrounding  buildings  as  do  the  great  cathedrals  of  Europe, 
but  it  instantly  arrests  the  eye.  The  dimensions  are  two 
hundred  by  one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet,  and  its  window¬ 
less  walls  are  about  sixty  feet  high,  relieved  somewhat  by 
shallow  pilasters  without  capitals.  Two  modern  minarets 
and  a  Saracen  addition  to  the  height  of  the  walls  do  not 
essentially  injure  the  solemn  and  striking  character  of  the 
structure.  Its  smoothly  wrought,  almost  polished,  massive 
stones,  some  of  them  thirty-eight  feet  in  length,  with  the 
peculiar  “ marginal  draught”  (wrongly  termed  “  bevel”),  are 
matched  by  no  others  in  Palestine,  except  in  the  substruc¬ 
ture  of  the  temple  area  at  Jerusalem.  There  seems  to  be 
no  valid  reason  to  question  the  conclusion  of  Robinson, 


THE  HILL-COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH. 


413 


that  44  the  remarkable  external  structure  of  the  Ilaram  is 
indeed  the  work  of  Jewish  hands,  erected  long,  long  before 
the  destruction  of  the  nation,  around  the  sepulchre  of  their 
revered  progenitors,  the  4  Friend  of  God,’  and  his  descend¬ 
ants  or  the  still  more  distinct  persuasion  of  Tristram,  that 
it  is  44  the  one  remaining  work  of  the  royal  Solomon,  or 
perhaps  of  his  greater  father;”  confirmed  by  Stanley,  who 
had  the  rare  privilege  of  visiting  the  interior,  and  who  is 
convinced  that  within  the  Mussulman  mosque,  44  within  the 
Christian  church,  within  the  massive  stone  enclosure  built 
by  the  kings  of  Judah,  is  beyond  any  reasonable  questioning 
the  last  resting-place  ”  of  the  44  great  patriarchal  family.” 

No  molestation  was  offered  us  as,  with  our  Jewish  guide, 
we  approached  the  venerable  place.  Times  were  changed 
since  Seetzen,  though  outside  of  the  city,  was  struck  by  a 
spent  stone  from  an  unknown  hand ;  and  even  when  Bobin- 
son  was  warned  to  desist,  as  he  was  measuring  a  line  paral¬ 
lel  to  the  wall  of  the  enclosure.  Still,  the  entrance  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  his  company  in  1862  remains  thus  far 
fruitless  of  privileges  to  any  other  Christians.  We  were 
quietly  permitted  to  approach  quite  near  the  entrance  of  the 
Ions:  line  of  enclosed  stairway  that  conducts  to  the  interior, 

o  ^  ' 

so  that  we  stood  directly  under  the  venerable  walls  and  ex¬ 
amined  its  almost  polished  stones.  But  once,  as  we  turned 
toward  the  entrance,  we  were  saluted  by  a  loud  shout  of 
44  Yellah”  from  a  crowd  of  Mohammedan  boys.  We  then 
went  around  the  building  on  the  hill-side  east,  immediately 
above,  where  we  could  in  some  degree  look  down  upon  it. 
But  we  could  only  mentally  assign  the  localities  within 
where  sleep  the  great  patriarchs :  Abraham,  according  to 
the  tradition,  in  the  middle,  Jacob  on  our  right,  and  Isaac 
on  the  left.  In  a  second  line,  parallel  to  those  of  their  hus¬ 
bands,  are  shown  the  shrines  of  Sarah,  Bebecca,  and  Leah. 


414 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


These  are  all  in  an  inner  building,  now  a  Turkish  mosque, 
but,  according  to  Stanley,  clearly  once  a  Christian  church. 
There  are  indications  of  a  cave  beneath,  which  no  one  has 
been  permitted  to  explore,  and  which  the  Mohammedan  has 
no  desire  to  examine.  In  the  political  changes  that  impend 
over  the  East,  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  present  genera¬ 
tion  may  see,  under  a  different  regime,  this  ancient  mystery 
and  some  others,  more  thoroughly  explored.  The  outer 
building  itself  is  as  unique  as  its  object,  and  has  a  simple 
grandeur  and  solemnity  about  it  not  unworthy  of  the  sacred 
dust  that  lies  within.  And  in  the  whole  vicinity,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  disguise  of  its  Mohammedan  population  and 
environments,  it  is  impossible  to  forget  that  one  is  certainly 
on  hallowed  ground.  The  eyes  and  the  feet  of  the  patri¬ 
archs  were  familiar  with  this  soil.  The  names  of  Joshua 
and  Caleb  stand  connected  with  the  place.  Here  David 
held  court  for  seven  years,  and  here  no  doubt  he  first  sung 
some  of  those  sacred  songs  that  will  be  coeval  with  the 
Church  on  earth.  At  our  evening  prayers  it  was  pleasant  to 
read  the  story  of  Abraham’s  purchase  of  the  cave;  and  after 
being  brought  safe  through  the  long  isolation  of  the  wilder¬ 
ness,  it  was  also  pleasant  to  sing  to  the  tune  of  “Ilebron” 
the  words  so  familiarly  associated  with  it  in  our  country, 
“  Thus  far  the  Lord  hath  led  me  on.” 

In  the  afternoon  we  received  a  very  friendly  call  from  a 
pleasant  English  party,  which  we  afterward  returned.  The 
company  consisted  of  a  Mr.  Young  and  two  daughters, 

Rev. -  Montgomery,  and  a  physician.  The  encounter 

was  a  refreshing  variety ;  and  especially  refreshing  was  it 
once  more  to  hear  the  English  tongue  spoken  by  some  one 
else  than  us  four.  We  greatly  enjoyed  the  friendly  spirit 
of  the  whole  company. 

Our  indefatigable  guide,  Shappira,  brought  us  some  native 


THE  HILL-COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH 


415 


wine  for  sale,  and  I  took  occasion,  in  view  of  certain  state¬ 
ments  that  are  made  concerning  “unfermented”  wines  of 
the  East,  to  make  numerous  inquiries  of  him.  He  brought 
two  kinds,  which  he  termed  respectively  “strong  wine”  and 
“  sweet  wine.”  The  difference,  he  said,  was  that  in  making 
the  latter,  the  grapes  are  kept  three  weeks  before  pressing. 
The  result  is  naturally  a  thicker,  sweeter  juice  to  ferment. 
Both  kinds  were  clearly  fermented  wines,  and  the  “  sweet 
wine  ”  seemed  to  me  the  stronger,  although  its  strength  was 


LOWER  POOL  OF  HEBRON. 


partly  disguised  by  its  sweetness.  A  specimen  which  I 
bought  for  analysis,  and  placed  in  the  keeping  of  the  drago¬ 
man,  somehow  disappeared  before  reaching  Beyroot.  Shap- 
pira  never  had  known  any  grape-juice  kept  unfermented. 
The  same  thing  seemed  to  be  true  throughout  Palestine,  as 
I  had  found  it  through  the  vine-growing  countries  of  Eu¬ 
rope.  An  unfermented  wine  was  nowhere  to  be  heard  of. 
The  wines  of  Cyprus  at  the  Latin  Convent  in  Jerusalem, 
and  the  wine  which  they  said  was  made  in  the  region,  the 


416 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


wines  of  Nazareth  at  the  convent,  and  the  wines  of  Mount 
Lebanon  at  Beyroot,  were  all  fermented  wines.  They  seemed 
to  be  weak  wines,  little  stronger  than  strong  cider.  But 
that  which  Dr.  Eli  Smith  found  to  be  true,  on  protracted 
and  careful  inquiry  in  Syria,  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  every 
traveller — that  no  such  thing  as  an  unfermented  wine  can 
be  found  or  heard  of  in  this  region.  In  view,  also,  of  the 
statement  which  has  sometimes  been  made,  that  the  Jewish 
law  excluding  leaven  during  the  Passover,  also  excludes  at 
that  time  (and  consequently  from  the  original  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per)  all  fermented  wines,  1  inquired  of  Shappira,  as  an  in¬ 
telligent  and  travelled  Jew,  whether  in  Germany,  Holland, 
America,  or  Palestine,  he  had  met  with  any  such  practice  or 
construction  of  the  law.  lie  said  that  he  never  heard  of 
any  Jews  who  held  that  view  or  followed  that  practice.  I 
found  that  here,  too,  his  testimony  conformed  to  that  given 
me  personally  by  the  learned  Rabbi  Felsenthal,  in  Chicago, 
and  to  Dr.  Eli  Smith  by  the  Rabbi  in  this  same  city  of 
Hebron,  when  Mr.  Smith,  during  the  Passover,  found  com¬ 
mon  (fermented)  wine  on  his  table. 

Shappira  informed  us  of  the  unusual  and  remarkable  se¬ 
verity  of  the  past  winter  at  Hebron.  He  said  that  there 
had  been  seven  snow-storms  during  the  winter.  In  one  of 
them  the  snow  fell  a  foot  in  depth.  On  the  Thursday  pre¬ 
vious  to  our  arrival,  there  fell  six  inches  of  snow,  which  lay 
on  the  ground  two  days. 

March  1  Qth. — The  morning  was  threatening,  and  the 
ground  was  wet  from  showers  during  the  night.  But  the 
barometer  maintained  its  height,  and  we  hoped  for  a  fair 
day,  and  were  intensely  desirous  to  reach  Jerusalem,  and 
hear  once  more  from  the  friends  from  whom  we  had  been 
so  long  absolutely  shut  off.  So  we  hastened  on  our  way. 
Some  delay  occurred  in  exchanging  camels  for  horses  and 


THE  HILL-COUNTRY  OF  JUDAH. 


417 


mules,  the  wet  soil  rendering  it  unsafe  to  use  the  former. 
Almost  at  once  we  struck  the  old  Roman  road  and  followed 
it  much  of  the  way.  It  had  once  been  solidly  paved  with 
blocks  of  stone,  which  still  maintain  their  place,  though 
worn  into  deep  holes  by  long-continued  travel,  with  no  re¬ 
pairs,  perhaps,  for  thirteen  or  fourteen  hundred  years.  It 
was  in  a  very  wretched  condition.  In  less  than  an  hour  the 
rain  began  to  fall,  and  continued  with  intervals  all  day  long, 
relieved  by  five  or  six  hail  and  snow  storms.  The  wind  was 
high,  and  came  occasionally  in  furious  gusts.  At  times  the 
hail  drove  so  fiercely  in  our  faces  that  our  horses  turned 
squarely  round  and  refused  to  go  on.  I  was  obliged  repeat¬ 
edly  to  give  my  bridle  to  an  Arab  to  lead  my  horse.  The 
cold  was  bitter  and  piercing.  We  were  all  provided  with 
umbrellas,  and  more  or  less  protected  with  water-proof 
garments :  I  was,  however,  the  only  member  of  the  party 
thoroughly  sheeted  from  head  to  foot  with  india-rubber, 
and  I  now  for  the  first  time  appreciated  the  precaution 
which,  through  forty  days  of  fair  weather,  had  kept  in  readi¬ 
ness  these  preparations  for  a  storm.  Wrapped  though  I 
was  in  a  heavy  frieze  overcoat  and  encased  in  water-proofs, 
I  was  chilled  through  and  through,  and  my  fingers  were  too 
numb  at  times  to  guide  my  horse.  One  of  the  company, 
who  had  been  enfeebled  by  the  jungle-fever  of  India,  was 
so  benumbed  that  at  lunch-time  we  had  to  assist  him  from 
his  horse,  and  on  arriving  at  Jerusalem  we  were  obliged  to 
support  him  into  the  convent.  Another  of  us,  less  protected 
about  the  feet  and  legs,  became  so  frightfully  chilled  that 
he  dismounted,  and  for  some  six  hours  pursued  his  way  over 
the  road,  wretched  with  mud,  water,  and  stones.  He  fin¬ 
ished  one  pair  of  boots  in  that  excursion.  It  was  a  day  of 
exposure  and  of  positive  suffering,  such  as  none  of  us  had 
elsewhere  experienced.  We  wound  our  way  steadily  on 

27 


41S 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


over  hills  and  through  valleys.  We  could  not  turn  aside; 
but  even  the  fierceness  of  the  storm  did  not  prevent  us  from 
catching  many  a  striking  view  as  we  moved  along.  The 
hills  were  very  rocky,  and  the  cleared  fields  often  full  of 
small  stones.  It  was  the  country  of  a  pastoral  people,  and 
for  small  farmers  such  as  the  Mosaic  economy  contemplated 
and  provided  for.  There  was  no  chance  for  “  reapers  ”  and 
“  mowers  ”  or  “  corn-planters  ”  here. 

At  a  quarter  before  two  we  halted  at  Solomon’s  pools 
to  lunch.  On  entering  the  fortress,  we  found  the  English 
party  already  there  before  us  in  the  general  reception-room. 
We  at  length  found  a  shelter  in  a  bare  and  forlorn  apart¬ 
ment,  open  on  one  side,  where  a  brisk  fire  and  a  lunch  re¬ 
stored  our  circulation,  and. gave  us  strength  to  go  on.  We 
soon  left  behind  us  these  three  huge  tanks,  very  probably  as 
old  as  the  king  whose  name  they  bear,  and  then  the  great 
source  of  water-supply  for  the  holy  city. 

As  we  pushed  on,  the  rain  poured  from  the  skies  and  the 
water  ran  in  torrents  across  and  along  our  rocky,  muddy 
way.  We  passed  Bethlehem  without  turning  aside,  com¬ 
pelled  to  reserve  it  for  another  day.  We  slacked  up,  how¬ 
ever,  at  the  undoubted  place  of  Rachel’s  tomb,  covered  by 
a  Muslim  wely,  to  give  it  a  long  and  wishful  gaze  and  a 
rapid  inspection.  At  the  convent  of  Mar  Elias  we  halted  a 
few  minutes  under  the  high  enclosing  wall,  to  gain  a  brief 
respite  from  the  grand  final  bombardment  of  hail,  and  then 
resolutely  pushed  forward.  As  I  turned  my  head  from  the 
cutting  blast  toward  the  village  of  Bethlehem,  the  tho  light 
came  over  me,  with  great  force,  that  if  this  even  in  March 
were  a  specimen  of  the  liabilities  of  “the  winter  wild”  in 
Palestine,  I  pitied  the  shepherds,  and  the  flocks,  too,  that 
should  have  been  exposed  to  such  contingencies.  And  re¬ 
membering  as  I  did  that  December  is  regularly  one  of  the 


THE  HILL -COUNTRY  OF  JUHAIL 


419 


Rachel’s  tomb. 


three  cold  and  stormy  months  of  the  year,  I  was  more  in¬ 
credulous  than  ever  that  the  Roman  government  would 
have  appointed  a  census,  or  that  a  wise  husband  would 
have  taken  with  him  a  wife  in  delicate  health,  at  a  time  of 
the  year  when  a  journey  of  eighty  miles  would  be  liable  to 


420 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


such  exposures.  Just  as  we  left  our  shelter,  a  fierce  gust  of 
wind  carried  away  the  hat  and  wrecked  the  umbrella  of  one 
of  the  company.  The  hat  was  recovered,  but  its  owner  dis¬ 
mounted  and  breasted  the  storm ;  and  we  moved  on,  two 
horsemen  and  two  footmen.  The  plain  of  Rephaim  was 
covered  with  fine  fields  of  growing  grain  ;  and  as  we  ap¬ 
proached  Jerusalem,  even  through  the  storm  the  city  loomed 
up  beautifully  “  on  the  sides  of  the  north.”  At  the  edge  of 
the  plain  of  Rephaim  we  descended  into  the  valley  of  Hin- 
nom,  left  on  our  right  the  lower  and  dry  pool  of  Gihon  as 
we  wound  our  way  upward  toward  the  Jaffa  gate. 

In  looking  eastward  down  the  valley  of  Ilinnom  to  that 
of  Jehoshaphat,  I  was  as  much  struck  with  surprise  as  Rob¬ 
inson  was  at  the  great  depth  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
Just  before  we  turned  to  enter  the  gate,  we  saw  at  a  little 
distance  on  our  left  the  upper  pool  of  Gihon,  and  close  by 
us  the  usual  camping -ground  of  travellers.  As  our  tents 
were  hopelessly  behind,  as  well  as  unmanageable  in  such  a 
storm,  we  hastened  to  a  hotel.  But  both  hotels  (the  “  Medi¬ 
terranean”  and  the  “Damascus”)  were  full  of  travellers, 
some  of  whom  had  been  suddenly  driven  thither  by  the 
blowing  down  of  their  tents  at  two  in  the  morning,  deluged 
with  rain.  The  Latin  Convent  then  became  our  refuge. 
At  first  there  w^as  some  little  delay  growing  out  of  the 
undesirable  repute  of  dragomans  generally ;  but  wTe  were 
presently  admitted,  and  received  most  kind  and  hospitable 
treatment  during  our  stay,  which  at  the  close  we  remuner¬ 
ated,  of  course,  by  the  established  present.  We  were  some 
of  us  fearfully  chilled  on  our  arrival;  but  a  brazier  of  coals, 
procured  not  without  difficulty,  and  in  due  time  a  warm 
dinner,  brought  us  safely  through,  without  injurious  effects 
from  the  hardest  day’s  exposure  of  our  lives. 


_ 


JERUSALEM,  FROM  THE  EAST. 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


423 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  HOLY  CITY. 

Jerusalem  has  been  too  often  and  too  thoroughly  de¬ 
scribed  to  call  for  any  minute  statements  in  this  volume. 
I  propose  accordingly  to  omit  all  account  of  much  that 
passed  under  my  notice  both  here  and  in  the  remainder  of 
Palestine,  and  to  call  attention  only  to  such  observations  as 
seem  to  me  of  some  vise  or  interest  in  addition  to  the  con¬ 
tents  of  ordinary  books  of  travel  and  guide-books. 

The  season  itself  this  year  was  peculiar.  The  interval 
from  the  middle  of  March  to  the  middle  of  April  should 
have  been,  according  to  the  usual  course  of  things,  free  from 
any  considerable  rains.  But  we  found  it  very  stormy.  Be¬ 
sides  the  storm  in  which  we  entered  the  city,  it  rained  near¬ 
ly  all  the  next  day  (March  17th)  in  showers,  snowed  nearly 
all  the  following  day,  was  showery  on  the  20th,  also  on  the 
23d  and  five  days  succeeding,  and  again  on  the  2d  and  3d 
of  April.  On  some  of  these  days  the  showers  were  heavy, 
and  with  little  intermission.  In  the  north,  the  mountains 
were  covered  with  snow,  and  the  roads  so  blocked  that  all 
this  time  and  for  three  weeks  previous  it  was  impracticable 
even  for  the  wife  of  the  Governor  of  Syria  to  pass  from 
Beyroot  to  Damascus.  In  Jerusalem  the  weight  of  the 
snow  crushed  the  roofs  of  some  buildings,  and  men  were 
employed  clearing  the  roof  of  our  convent,  to  save  it  from 
injury.  On  the  18th  of  March  there  lay  on  the  ground 
about  five  inches  of  wet  and  heavy  snow.  I  plucked  flow- 


424 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ers  from  beneath  it  in  the  temple  area  on  that  day,  and 
the  next  day  I  gathered  scarlet  anemones  from  beneath  the 
snow  on  the  side  of  Mount  Olivet.  On  the  morning  of  the 
19th  I  found  ice  five-eighths  of  an  inch  thick  on  the  roof 
of  the  convent.  We  certainly  had  experience  of  the  Pales¬ 
tinian  fitness  of  description  in  the  passage  (Psa.  cxlvii.  16, 
17),  “ He  giveth  snow  like  wool:  he  casteth  forth  his  ice 
like  morsels;  and  who  can  stand  before  his  cold  The 
native  population  suffered  great  hardships  by  reason  of  the 
unusual  severity  of  this  season.  It  was  so  likewise  in  Asia 
Minor;  and  as  we  afterward  passed  the  southern  coast  of 
that  region  in  April,  the  whole  range  of  high  mountains 
was  sheeted  in  wdiite. 

One  of  the  earliest  expeditions  wTas  an  excursion  about 
the  whole  city  outside  the  walls,  and  another  was  a  walk  on 
top  of  the  walls  themselves,  along  the  northern,  eastern,  and 
part  of  the  southern  sides,  to  gain  a  more  distinct  view  both 
of  the  outer  and  the  inner  situation  of  the  place.  The  posi¬ 
tion  is  singularly  strong,  as  readily  recognizable  by  the  an¬ 
cient  Jebusite,  as  by  the  warrior  David  and  the  Poman 
general  Titus. 

Prom  the  northern  hill -country  a  mountain  promontory 
juts  sharply  out,  hemmed  in,  east,  south,  and  south-west,  by 
deep  ravines  with  precipitous  sides.  It  is  easily  accessible 
only  on  the  north  and  north-west.  At  the  north-west  side, 
within  a  short  distance  of  each  other,  two  slight  depressions, 
the  valleys  of  Hinnom  and  Jehoshaphat,  run  in  opposite  di¬ 
rections,  rapidly  deepening,  after  a  little,  as  they  go.  The 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat  runs  first  easterly  for  a  mile  and  a 
half,  then  turns  almost  at  right  angles  south  to  form  the 
deeper  chasm  east  of  the  city.  The  valley  of  Hinnom  leads 
southward  for  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  then  sweeps  round 
eastward,  falling  with  great  rapidity  to  form  the  southern 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


425 


chasm,  and  joins  Jehoshaphat  at  the  south-east  corner,  six 
hundred  and  seventy  feet  below  the  level  where  they  start¬ 
ed.  On  this  mountain  spur,  half  a  mile  above  the  level  of 
the  Mediterranean,  lies  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  not 
only  itself  a  mountain  city,  containing  Mount  Zion 


and 


426 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Mount  Moriah,  but  it  is  environed  with  elevations,  and  “  as 
tliQ  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is 
round  about  his  people.’’  The  plateau  of  about  a  thousand 
acres  slopes  toward  the  south-east.  The  area  was  small. 
Indeed,  the  present  wall  encloses  but  two  hundred  and  nine 
acres.  One  can  easily  walk  round  the  walls  in  three-quar¬ 
ters  of  an  hour,  for  they  measure  but  two  miles  and  a  half 
in  length.  The  ancient  population  would  hardly  have 
reached  a  hundred  thousand  persons;  and  the  immense 
crowds  that  thronged  the  Passover,  amounting  at  times  to 
three  millions,  according  to  Josephus,1  must  have  occupied 
the  hill-sides  without  and  the  surrounding  region. 

It  is  evident  to  the  eye  that  the  line  of  the  present  north¬ 
ern  wall  of  the  city  (the  wall  of  Suleiman  of  1542)  was  not 
determined  by  the  natural  features  of  the  site,  since  it  is 
commanded  bv  higher  ground  on  the  north.  But  the  eastern 

%j  <CD  O 

wall  could  never  have  deviated  far  from  the  present  line, 
for  it  runs  along  the  brow  of  the  declivity.  And  one  can 
readily  accept  the  view  of  Captain  Warren,  that  here,  just 
south  of  St.  Stephen’s  gate,  in  the  massive  draughted  stones 
of  the  lower  strata,  some  of  them  twenty-three  feet  long,  he 
beholds  a  relic  of  the  kings  of  Judah.  The  eastern  end  of 
the  southern  wall  evidently  belongs  to  the  natural  features 
of  the  place,  and  portions  of  its  masonry  (as  well  as  that 
along  the  “  wailing-place  ”  west  of  the  Ilaram  area)  confirm 
the  opinion  expressed  by  the  same  and  by  other  writers,  that 
these  are  relics  of  the  time  of  King  Solomon.  At  the 
south-eastern  corner  the  abrupt  descent  of  the  valley  outside 
prepares  one  to  learn  that  the  massive  wall  itself  descends 
far  below  the  accumulated  debris  of  ages,  and  measures,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Ordnance  Survey,  more  than  a  hundred  and 


1  Wars,  ii.  14,  3  ;  vi.  9,  3. 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


427 


fifty  feet  in  height;  and  thus  Josephus’s  description2  of  the 
dizzy  height  of  Herod’s  cloisters  that  overlooked  the  deep 
descent  would  appear  to  have  had  a  goodly  basis  of  fact 
beneath  its  rhetorical  form.  The  southern  wall,  instead 
of  following  its  present  course,  should  so  obviously  have 
swept  around  the  brow  of  the  projecting  spur  of  the  hill 
Ophel,  that  we  are  prepared  alike  for  the  statement  that  it 


WALL  AT  SOUTH-EAST  CORNER  OF  TEMPLE  AREA. 


once  was  so,3  and  for  the  discovery  by  Captain  Warren  of  a 
part  of  the  old  wall  of  Ophel  beneath  the  surface.  There 
is  nothing  to  determine  the  original  or  natural  course  of  the 
western  wall  in  its  northern  part.  Hence  the  question  that 
has  not  been  settled  by  Captain  Warren,  and  will  not  be 


2  Antiq.  xv.  11,  5. 


3  2  Chron.  xxvii.  3  ;  xxxiii.  14  ;  Nell.  iii.  26,  27. 


428 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


settled  till  actual  traces  of  that  wall  shall  be  discovered, 
whether  its  course  excluded  or  included  the  site  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  and  whether  that  site  is  even  admissible. 

Standing  upon  certain  portions  of  the  wall,  the  eye  can,  to 
some  degree,  recognize  the  fact,  almost  obliterated  by  the 
accumulated  debris  of  ages,  but  revealed  by  explorations  be¬ 
neath  the  surface,  that  the  sloping  plateau  occupied  by  the 
city  was  not  originally  a  plain  but  a  cluster  of  hill-tops  or 
eminences.  It  was  divided  into  unequal  halves  by  the  val¬ 
ley  of  the  Tyropoeon,  or  the  cheese-mongers.  A  branch  of 
that  valley  extended  westward  toward  the  Jaffa  gate,  and 
another  depression  ran  eastward  in  the  same  general  line  to 
a  point  south  of  St.  Stephen’s  gate.  The  city  was  thus 
rudely  quartered  into  Mount  Moriah  in  the  south-east;  Mount 
Zion  west  of  it,  rising  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above 
the  level  of  Moriah,  and  still  showing  a  high  cliff  on  its  east¬ 
ern  side ;  Mount  Bezetha  directly  north  of  it,  a  hundred  feet 
above  the  same  level;  and  Aksa,  the  highest  point  of  all,  in 
the  north-west.  Bezetha  is  probably  not  included  in  the 
earlier  walls,  so  that  the  citv  was  a  kind  of  tri-mountain. 
Bezetha  contains  little  of  interest  in  earlier  or  more  modern 
times.  The  south-eastern  quarter,  where  the  ancient  ridge 
that  contained  the  cave  of  Arannah  can  still  be  traced,  thrust¬ 
ing  one  great  rock-mass  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
area,  and  even  above  the  top  of  the  enclosing  wall,  was  un¬ 
doubtedly  the  site  of  the  Temple,  and  probably  of  Solomon’s 
palace.  It  was  Mount  Moriah.  Zion,  lying  west,  or  rather 
south-west,  and  once  connected  with  the  temple  hill  by 
massive  arches  that  spanned  the  Tyropoeon,  contained  the 
palace  of  Herod.  In  the  heart  of  the  north-western  quarter 
lies  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  well  within  the  pres¬ 
ent  walls ;  and  if  within  the  ancient  wall  (the  “  second 
wall  ”),  then  clearly  not  the  place  of  the  Saviour’s  tomb. 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


429 


The  southern  part  of  the  western  wall  runs  so  close  upon 
the  brow  of  the  hill  that  it  must  follow  the  original  line; 
and  here,  just  outside,  within  a  few  years,  in  certain  level¬ 
lings  for  the  English  cemetery,  was  disclosed  from  beneath  a 
mass  of  rubbish,  a  flight  of  rock-hewn  steps  leading  down  to 
the  valley  below.  And  in  the  south-eastern  slope  of  Opliel, 
just  above  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  one  looks  upon  another  flight 
of  steps,  supposed  by  Tristram  to  be  the  very  same  that  is 
mentioned  in  Neh.  iii.  15,  16,  and,  like  those  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish  cemetery,  to  be  older  than  the  captivity.4 

In  walking  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  the  traveller 
knows  with  absolute  certainty  that  he  stands  upon  the  an¬ 
cient  and  venerable  historic  site  where  kings,  priests,  proph¬ 
ets  and  holy  men,  and  the  Saviour,  with  the  twelve,  once 
moved  about.  But  when  he  looks  upon  individual  localities 
and  traditional  spots,  he  cannot  forget  that  he  stands  in  the 
city  not  only  of  twenty-seven  sieges,  but  of  numerous  recon¬ 
structions.  It  has  been  well  said,  there  was  a  city  before 
David,  and  then  successively  a  city  of  Solomon,  of  Nehemi- 
ah,  of  Herod,  of  Hadrian  and  Constantine,  of  Omar,  of  God¬ 
frey,  and  of  Suleiman.  “  Rubbish  and  debris  cover  every 
foot  of  its  ground,  save  where  the  rock  crops  out  at  inter¬ 
vals.  The  rubbish  is  the  wreck  of  all  these  cities  piled 
one  above  the  other.”  After  the  conquest  by  Titus,  the 
tenth  legion  was  left  for  the  express  purpose  of  demolition, 
and  for  fifty  years  the  city  disappeared  from  knowledge  and 
history.  Then,  nearly  a  century  later,  another  revolt  and 
bloody  capture  was  followed  by  a  change  of  the  city’s 
name,6  and  the  deliberate  attempt  of  Hadrian  to  obliterate 
every  trace  of  the  former  city.  Ruins  razed  and  ploughed 
over,  a  Roman  colony  introduced,  the  banishment  of  all 


4  Land  of  Israel,  p.  198. 


5  Our  Work  in  Palestine,  p.  67. 


430 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Jews  for  two  hundred  years,  a  Roman  theatre,  a  temple  of 
Jupiter  on  the  Temple  site,  Hadrian’s  statue  on  the  holy 
place,  and  the  worship  of  Serapis,  tell  the  tale. 

Many  striking  facts  recently  brought  to  light  indicate  the 
changes  of  the  surface  of  the  city.  Beneath  the  house  of 
the  Prussian  deaconesses  on  Bezetha  was  found  a  subterra¬ 
nean  street  of  houses  several  feet  beneath  the  surface.  In 
building  the  Episcopal  church  on  Mount  Zion,  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  dig  through  fifty  feet  of  rubbish  in  order  to  lay  the 
foundations.  Captain  Warren  excavated  in  the  Tyropoeon, 
near  Robinson’s  arch,  fifty-five  feet  without  reaching  the 
bottom  of  the  debris;  and  just  south  of  the  central  entrance 
to  the  Harain  area,  he  found  the  accumulation  to  be  not 
less  than  eighty -four  feet  in  depth.  As  one  walks  along 
the  Yia  Dolorosa,  with  its  numerous  traditional  places — the 
house  of  Dives,  the  “  Ecce  Homo”  arch,  the  place  where  the 
Saviour  is  alleged  to  have  sunk  under  the  cross,  the  spot 
where  he  said,  “Weep  not”  —  it  certainly  abates  largely 
whatever  confidence  might  possibly  be  attached  to  any  of 
them,  to  remember  that,  according  to  the  Ordnance  Survey, 
in  many  places  the  street  now  lies  thirty  or  forty  feet  above 
its  original  level. 

In  visiting  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  one  would 
be  glad  to  believe  that  he  stands  in  a  genuine  place,  and  to 
share  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  pilgrims  whom  he  sees  en¬ 
tering  the  small  central  apartment  on  their  knees,  and  with 
their  lips  wearing  away  the  marble  which,  beneath  the  light 
of  forty-three  lamps  of  silver  and  gold,  covers  the  alleged 
place  of  burial.  But  too  many  questions  arise.  The  diffi¬ 
culty  of  showing,  and  even  of  believing,  that  the  place  could 
have  been  without  the  walls  ;  the  difficulty,  if  not  impossi¬ 
bility,  of  preserving  the  knowledge  of  the  place  during 
those  early  centuries  of  confusion,  coupled  with  the  obvious 


t 


. 


/ 


. 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


433 


indisposition  in  early  days  to  invest  such  places  with  special 
sanctity ;  and,  finally,  the  immense  accumulation  of  sacred 
spots  beneath  this  one  roof,  make  you  feel  at  length  that 
all  stand  on  a  like  level  of  monkish  imposture.  For  here 
you  have,  it  is  said  by  some  one  who  has  counted  them, 
about  seventy  sacred  spots,  all  huddled  together,  from  the 


GROUND-PLAN  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

1.  Principal  door;  4.  Tomb  of  Godfrey;  5.  Tomb  of  Baldwin;  6.  Tomb  of  Melchizedelc; 
7.  Chapel  of  Adam  and  John  the  Baptist;  8.  Tomb  of  Adam ;  11.  Place  where  the  Virgin 
Mary  stood  while  the  body  was  anointed  ;  13.  Chapel  of  the  Angel;  17.  Tombs  of  Joseph 
and  Nicodemus  ;  19.  Greek  “Centre  of  the  World;”  27.  Where  Christ  appeared  to  Mary 
Magdalene ;  28.  Where  Mary  Magdalene  stood ;  30.  Part  of  the  pillar  of  flagellation  ;  32. 
Where  Christ  appeared  to  his  mother  after  the  resurrection  ;  33.  Place  of  the  recognition  of 
the  cross  ;  35.  Place  of  Christ’s  bonds ;  36.  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  ;  38.  Chapel  of  Longinus 
the  Centurion;  39.  Chapel  of  the  mocking;  41.  Chapel  of  St.  Helena;  42.  Chapel  of  the 
penitent  thief;  44.  Chapel  of  the  finding  of  the  cross. 

tombs  of  Adam  and  Melcbizedek,  down  to  the  vault  where 
Helena  found  the  true  cross,  the  crown  of  thorns,  the  nails, 
and  the  original  inscription.  One  is  refreshed  to  find  him¬ 
self  near  the  tombs  of  Godfrey  and  Baldwin  as  veritable 
facts.  Still,  many  highly  intelligent  persons  maintain  that 
the  place  of  the  sepulchre  is  the  genuine  site.  Such  is  the 
opinion  of  Sir  Henry  James,  of  the  Ordnance  Survey. 

28 


434 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


In  visiting  the  temple  area  I  was  troubled  by  no  such 
questioning.  My  first  visit  was  on  my  own  responsibility. 
My  friend  and  myself  were  exploring  the  city  on  a  rainy 
morning,  and  coming  opposite  the  entrance  to  the  Haram 
area,  we  said,  “  Let’s  go  in.”  No  sooner  said  than  done. 
As  we  walked  toward  the  Dome  of  the  Rock,  looking  quiet¬ 
ly  about,  a  beggar  attempted  to  stop  us,  but  we  paid  no 
attention  to  him.  lie  then  shouted  for  the  guard.  But  the 
guard  evidently  did  not  intend  to  wet  their  good  clothing 
in  the  rain,  and  we  kept  on.  The  beggar  then  laid  hold  of 
me.  I  removed  his  hand  and  made  him  understand  that 
that  would  not  answer,  when  he  changed  his  tone  and  asked 
lustily  for  backsheesh.  We  stayed  a  few  minutes,  took  a 
good  look  of  the  place,  and  came  away  unmolested.  A  few 
years  ago  such  an  experiment  would  have  been  to  the  last 
degree  hazardous.  But  times  have  changed.  Until  the 
Crimean  war  no  Jew  or  Christian,  unless  under  extraordi¬ 
nary  circumstances,  had  for  six  centuries  been  permitted  to 
enter  these  walls.  Barclay  was  prevented  by  a  threat  of 
death  from  measuring  within  ten  or  fifteen  yards  of  the 
gate.  lie  mentions  two  persons,  one  dangerously  pelted 
with  stones,  and  the  other  still  more  dangerously  beaten,  for 
entering  the  enclosure,  though  the  latter  was  a  physician  in 
attendance  on  a  Haram  officer,  and  was  under  special  pro¬ 
tection.  He  has  known  several  persons,  well  disguised  and 
pretending  to  be  Mussulmans,  to  gain  admission  by  the  pay¬ 
ment  of  thirty  or  forty  pounds.  W.  II.  Bartlett  gives  an 
exciting  narrative  of  two  unsuccessful  attempts  on  his  part 
to  enter,  once  in  the  disguise  of  a  woman.  He  afterward 
succeeded.  But  this  dangerous  and  costly  experiment  has 
now  become  safe  and  cheap.  The  privilege  which  cost 
Tristram  and  his  company,  in  1864,  one  pound  each,  cost  us 
but  about  two  francs  apiece — thanks  to  the  efficiency  of  our 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


435 


American  consul,  Mr.  Do  Hass.  Neither  is  there  any  annoy¬ 
ance  about  it.  We  were  permitted  to  see  everything  quite 
as  freely  as  the  same  privilege  is  accorded  in  a  European 
cathedral.  There  was  no  additional  backsheesh,  and  no 
scowling  looks. 

The  far-famed  Dome  of  the  Rock  is  of  course  the  object 
of  chief  interest.  It  was  now  undergoing  repairs,  without 
and  within,  and  for  this  reason,  perhaps,  our  freedom  was 
the  more  complete.  Fragments  of  its  enamelled  tiles  lay 
scattered  around.  The  building  itself  is  one  of  the  most 
Oriental  things  that  falls  under  the  eye  of  the  traveller.  Its 
octagonal  shape,  its  party-colored  marbles,  its  glazed  tiles  of 
bright  colors  and  intricate  figures,  its  Arabic  inscriptions, 
its  pointed  windows,  its  graceful  dome,  surmounted  by  a 
gilded  crescent,  and  rising  from  among  the  tall  cypresses 
around,  are  a  genuine  vision  of  the  East. 

But  the  chief  interest  is  found  in  its  central  object. 
Within  two  concentric  circles  of  piers,  and  of  Corinthian 
columns  which  have  evidently  come  from  some  older  edi¬ 
fice,  perhaps  Hadrian’s,  or  possibly  even  Herod’s,  temple,  is 
a  lattice- work  screen,  and  within  the  screen  a  great  rounded 
rock  projection,  some  sixty  feet  by  forty  according  to  Tris¬ 
tram,  and  rising,  according  to  Captain  Wilson,  four  feet 
nine  inches  above  the  marble  pavement,  but  a  good  deal 
more  above  the  general  level.  It  shows  here  and  there 
marks  of  the  chisel,  but  is,  in  the  main,  nothing  but  a  rough 
mass  of  rock.  We  put  our  hands  upon  it  through  the  lat¬ 
tice-work,  mounted  on  a  ladder  and  looked  down  upon  it 
from  above,  and  finally  entered  it  by  a  flight  of  steps  hewn 
out  on  the  south-eastern  side.  Here  we  found  ourselves 
within  a  room  about  fifteen  feet  square  and  six  or  eight  feet 
high.  The  rough  and  irregular  sides  are  covered  with  plas¬ 
ter  now,  while  the  ceiling  is  pierced  with  a  hole  some  three 


436 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


feet  in  diameter,  and  in  the  floor  lies  a  slab,  covering,  as  it 
is  alleged,  a  well.  The  room,  of  course,  contained  some  su¬ 
perstitious  spots ;  but  the  aspect  of  it  is  of  a  natural  cave 
enlarged. 

The  preservation  of  such  a  rough  rock  through  the  ages 
in  a  place  where  everything  else  has  been  elaborately  lev¬ 
elled  and  cut  away,  is  a  phenomenon  inexplicable,  except  on 
the  ground  of  some  ancient  and  venerable  history  or  tradi¬ 
tion.  And  inasmuch  as  the  general  locality  of  the  Temple 
is  settled  as  belonodno;  somewhere  in  this  area — it  beiim  a 
situation,  too,  such  as  would  scarcely  ever  have  been  mis¬ 
taken — in  addition  to  the  considerations  pointing  to  this 
particular  locality,  I  recognize  as  not  less  significant  than 
any  other,  the  fact  of  this  rock  being  so  preserved  and  so 
screened,  down  to  the  present  day.  In  the  cavern  beneath, 
so  similar  to  other  recognized  granaries,  it  implies  no  cre¬ 
dulity,  therefore,  to  suppose  with  Tristram  (and  apparently 
with  Pierotti)  that  we  may  have  found  a  granary  attached 
to  the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah :  it  may  be  the  place  in 
which  he  and  his  four  sons  hid  themselves  (1  Chron.  xxi. 
20)  when  “  he  was  threshing  wheat,”  and  that  here  we  stand 
upon  the  spot  which  David  bought  of  him  for  the  Temple 
site.  1  observed  that  “  the  sparrow  hath  found  a  house  ” 
in  the  Temple  area  now,  as  of  old.  I  saw  them  here  as  well 
as  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  grotto  of  Jere¬ 
miah,  and  elsewhere  abundantly.  The  flowers  I  plucked 
here  were  covered  with  several  inches  of  snow. 

It  was  a  very  impressive  visit  that  we  made  the  same  day 
to  the  immense  quarries  directly  underneath  the  city.  En¬ 
tering  by  a  hole  near  the  Damascus  gate,  we  found  our¬ 
selves  at  once  in  a  vast  succession  of  continuous  caverns,  ex¬ 
cavated  in  the  limestone  rock  to  get  building-stone.  The 
height  was  from  ten  to  thirty  feet,  and  the  roof  was  sup- 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


437 


ported  by  shapeless  natural  columns  of  rock.  The  marks  of 
chisel  and  pick  are  as  discernible  as  though  of  yesterday, 
the  hollows  used  as  lamps  by  the  workmen,  and  in  one  place 
a  broken  monolith.  It  is  supposed  that  the  white  stone  of 
the  Temple  came  from  these  quarries,  and  the  materials  gen¬ 
erally  of  the  ancient  city.  The  caverns  are  large  enough  to 
build  a  larger  city  than  modern  Jerusalem ;  and,  as  Thom¬ 


son  remarks,  “  the  whole  city  might  be  stowed  away  in 
them.”  The  guide  conducted  us  about  for  a>long  distance, 
and  affirmed  at  one  time  that  we  were  beneath  the  Haranf 
area;  but  I  doubted  it.  Tristram  accepts  the  suggestion 
that  through  a  subterranean  passage  from  the  Temple,  re¬ 
cently  discovered,  Simon  escaped,  when,  on  the  last  day  of 
the  great  struggle  with  the  Romans,  he  made  his  appear- 


438 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ance  as  a  ghost  at  the  tower  of  David,  near  the  Jaffa  gate — - 
his  final  venture.  In  these  caverns,  according  to  Josephus, 
a  great  number  of  Jews  for  a  time  found  refuge  when  the 
city  was  captured. 

Among  the  undoubted  antiquities  outside  the  city  walls 
may  be  reckoned  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  on  the  south  side  of 
Opliel,  reduced  in  size  and  enclosed  by  more  modern  ma¬ 
sonry,  but  the  same  pool.  The  people  still  frequent  it  for 
water.  Here  the  blind  man  washed  and  received  his  sight. 
Connected  with  it,  higher  on  the  hill,  is  the  Fountain  of  the 
Virgin,  with  an  irregular  flow,  which  Robinson  has  there¬ 
fore  suggested  may  be  Bethesda,  and  others  the  King’s  Pool 
of  Kehemiah  (ii.  14).  And  lower  down,  where  the  two  val¬ 
leys  meet,  is  Bir  Eyub,  the  Well  of  Joab,  which  with  much 
probability  has  been  considered  the  En  Rogel  of  historic 
memory.  The  abrupt  cliffs  beyond  the  Valley  of  Hinnom, 
which  form  the  ascent  to  the  Hill  of  Evil  Counsel  and  the 
Field  of  Blood,  may  very  probably  have  been  the  place 
where  Judas  hung  himself  and  fell :  but  this  can  only  be 
conjectured. 

Of  course,  no  traveller  fails  to  go  on  Friday  to  the  wail¬ 
ing-place  of  the  Jews,  outside  of  the  western  wall  of  the 
Flaram  area.  Here  we  saw  nine  men  and  about  twice  as 
many  women  assembled,  with  their  faces  turned  to  the  wall, 
and  many  of  them  reading  their  prayers  from  a  book.  The 
•scene  is  perhaps  more  impressive  to  read  of  than  to  see, 
as  it  savored  a  little  of  a  ceremony.  The  old  wall  itself  at 
this  point  was  a  much  more  interesting  sight,  with  its  large 
draughted  stones.  The  depression  of  the  Tyropoeon  valley, 
and  “  Robinson’s  Arch  ” — the  arch  of  the  bridge  that  once 
spanned  this  valley — are  also  matters  of  special  interest  in 
this  quarter. 

The  sepulchres  around  the  city  are  well  calculated  to  ar- 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


439 


/ 


rest  the  attention.  As  it  was  said  to  be  once  easier  to  find 
a  god  than  a  man  in  Athens,  so  it  has  been  remarked,  per¬ 
haps  without  exaggeration,  that  “the  tombs  of  Jerusalem 


JEWS’  WAILING-PLACE. 


are  far  more  numerous  than  her  houses.”  The  deep  valleys 
around  the  city  and  the  side -hills  in  every  direction  are 
honey-combed  with  them.  And  these  homes  of  the  dead 
have  at  various  periods — some  of  them  at  the  present  day 


_ 


440 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


— been  houses  of  the  living.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the 
name  borne  by  any  one  of  them  describes  the  fact  of  the 
case.  Whether  the  “tomb  of  David”  was  actually  his  place 
of  sepulture,  perhaps  can  be  determined  with  some  proba¬ 
bility  when  Turkish  bigotry  shall  permit  a  thorough  ex¬ 
amination.  But  the  tombs  of  the  kings  were  more  likely 
in  the  first  instance  the  tomb  of  a  queen,  Helena.  The 
tomb  of  Absalom  and  of  Zechariah  probably  are  many  hun¬ 
dred  years  later  than  those  persons.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  either  a  judge  or  a  prophet  was  ever  laid  in  “the  tombs 
of  the  judges”  and  “of  the  prophets.”  But  the  structure 
of  these  sepulchres,  some  of  which  are  apparently  very  old, 
is  instructive  in  regard  to  the  prevalent  method  of  burial. 
While  the  modern  Turks  bury  their  dead  in  a  grave  in  the 
ground — as  may  now  be  seen  just  outside  of  the  wall  south 
of  St.  Stephen’s  gate  and  elsewhere — the  ancient  Jewish 
practice  seems  not  to  have  corresponded  at  all  to  this  meth¬ 
od.  The  sepulchre  was  early  a  natural  cave,  and  afterward 
a  room  or  suite  of  rooms  cut  in  the  rock,  entered  commonlv 
by  a  horizontal  door  (though  sometimes  apparently  by  a 
flight  of  steps),  and  in  these  rooms  or  chambers  the  dead 
were  deposited  in  niches  or  berths  hewed  in  the  side-wall, 
lying  sometimes  parallel  and  sometimes  perpendicular  to 
the  side  of  the  wall.  Thus  in  the  tombs  of  the  kino;s  one 
chamber  had  seven  of  these  lateral  niches,  another  nine ;  a 
third  chamber  had  three  connecting  vaults,  each  with  three 
raised  niches  for  the  dead.  This  was  apparently  the  case  in 
all  instances — substantial!}7  the  same  arrangement  that  pre¬ 
vailed  universally  through  the  early  Jewish  and  Christian 
catacombs  of  Borne.  A  very  obvious  application  of  this 
fact  is  to  correct  the  conception  of  those  who  think  of  a 
“burial”  in  the  Scriptures  as  though  it  were  a  letting-down 
of  the  dead  into  the  ground  and  covering  him  with  earth, 


THE  HOLY  CITY. 


441 


POOL  OF  SILOAM. 

and  lienee  resembling  an  immersion.  The  two  things  seem 
to  have  no  very  noticeable  resemblance,  any  more  than  there 
is  between  an  immersion  and  the  entrance  into  a  berth  in  a 
railway  sleeping-car. 

Uncertainties  about  general  locality  disappear,  in  part, 
when  the  traveller  passes  out  of  Jerusalem  by  St.  Stephen’s 
gate  eastward.  The  rapidly  descending  path  brings  one 
shortly  to  the  channel  of  the  Kedron,  which,  when  I  saw  it, 
was  not  “  the  dry  bed  of  a  winter  torrent,”  but  a  swift  and 
vigorous  brook.  It  was  suggested,  however,  by  Dr.  Bar¬ 
clay,  and  proved  by  the  Ordnance  Survey,  that  the  true  bed 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


442 

of  the  Kedron  lies  nearly  forty  feet  (thirty- eight  and  a 
half)  below  the  accumulated  rubbish  of  the  valley.  Once 
over  the  valley,  there  is  no  mistake  about  the  fact  that  we 
are  climbing  the  veritable  Mount  of  Olives.  The  present 
Garden  of  Gethsemane,  with  its  venerable  olive-trees,  may 
be  too  much  in  the  line  of  constant  travel  (being  at  the 
divergence  of  two  paths)  to  answer  for  the  place  of  retire¬ 
ment  and  cpiiet  which  the  Saviour  sought.  The  actual  spot 
may  be,  as  Thomson  suggests,  a  little  farther  to  the  north. 
But  along  over  this  very  region  that  we  travel,  those  sacred 
footsteps  must  often  have  gone,  and  the  whole  natural  sce¬ 
nery  is  the  same  that  was  familiar  to  his  eyes.  Up  the 
mount  we  climbed,  plucking  “  lilies  of  the  field”  from  be¬ 
neath  the  unseasonable  snow,  till  from  the  summit  we  could 
see  the  city  far  below  us  on  the  one  side,  and  on  the  other 
the  Dead  Sea  and  the  long  deep  valley  north  of  it. 

We  followed  the  path  that  led  over  the  summit  to  Beth¬ 
any.  Of  course  one  could  take  little  satisfaction  in  viewing 
the  particular  ruin  called  the  house  of  Martha  aud  Mary,  or 
the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  the  latter  a  deep  excavation,  descended 
by  long  winding  flights  of  stairs,  and  seeming  more  like  a 
well  than  a  tomb.  But  here,  again,  the  whole  natural  sce¬ 
nery  and  the  general  locality  was  that  of  the  place  where 
Jesus  found  his  pleasant  suburban  home  and  his  intimate 
friends,  and  the  region  where  he  wrought  his  stupendous 
miracle.  On  our  return  we  came  by  the  southern  path,  and 
could  feel  no  doubt  that  a  good  part  of  the  way  we  were 
walking  in  his  frecpient  path,  and  especially  when  he  made 
his  triumphal  entry  into  the  city.  Fig,  olive,  and  other 
trees  reminded  one  of  the  connection  with  ancient  times, 
and  at  last  we  reached  the  point  whence  the  city  opened 
up  beautifully  on  the  sight,  no  doubt  nearly  the  same  spot 
where  he  beheld  the  city  and  wept  over  it. 


TO  JERICHO. 


443 


CHAPTER  XXL 

TO  JERICHO. 

The  time  came  for  bidding  farewell  to  the  ancient  city 
of  the  Great  King.  Our  preparations  to  leave  were  signal¬ 
ized  by  a  slight  controversy  with  our  dragoman.  He  had 
been  hitherto  quite  unexceptionable  while  among  the  Arabs, 
but  now  he  evidently  thought  his  opportunity  had  come. 
We  learned,  in  the  first  place,  that  he  was  not  intending  to 
make  the  convent  the  customary  present  for  our  board,  al¬ 
though  we  were  actually  paying  him  seven  times  the  daily 
amount  while  lying  still  in  and  around  Jerusalem.  He  said 
the  convent  was  a  charitable  institution.  We  found  that 
for  such  tricks  the  race  of  dragomans  was  in  bad  repute 
at  the  convent,  and  that  travellers  under  their  charge  were 
cautiously  admitted.  But  an  appeal  to  the  excellent  Ameri¬ 
can  consul  speedily  settled  the  matter.  The  dragoman  also 
insisted  that,  as  our  contract  mentioned  Damascus  as  one  of 
the  places  to  which  he  was  bound  to  take  us,  though  leav¬ 
ing  the  whole  decision  in  our  hands,  we  were  bound  to  be 
taken  to  Damascus  whether  we  would  or  no,  and  that,  too, 
though  the  road  to  that  city  was,  and  had  been  for  four 
weeks,  effectually  blocked  by  heavy  snows.  He  wTas  quite 
content  to  wait  for  a  thaw,  and  have  ns  pay  him  for  wait¬ 
ing.  But  this  too  was  summarily  disposed  of  by  the  con¬ 
sul,  to  his  disgust. 

On  Monday,  March  22d,  we  set  off  for  the  Dead  Sea  and 
the  Jordan,  by  way  of  Bethlehem.  As  we  mounted  our 


444 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


horses  the  windows  of  heaven  opened  on  ns  again,  and  the 
rain  poured  heavily  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  till  we  entered 
Bethlehem.  Passing  once  more  the  undisputed  burial-place 
of  the  beloved  Rachel,  we  in  due  time  reached  the  ecpially 
undoubted  place  in  which  Ruth  gleaned,  and  where  David 


BETHLEHEM. 


and  Christ  were  born.  The  long  straggling  village  of  gray 
limestone  houses  slopes  off  north-easterly  on  the  side  of  a 
projecting  ridge,  and  a  little  separated  from  it  stands  the 
high  building  that  contains  three  distinct  convents  clustered 
upon  three  sides  of  the  Church  of  the  Nativity.  As  we 


TO  JERICHO. 


445 


wound  our  way  up  to  the  convent,  on  the  hill- side  at  our 
left,  were  olive,  tig,  and  pomegranate  trees,  and  vineyards ; 
and  down  in  the  valley  below  I  saw  green  fields  of  grain, 
which  freshly  recalled  the  days  of  Boaz  and  the  oldest  and 
most  beautiful  of  pastorals. 

Whatever  may  be  the  traveller’s  views  of  the  sacred  spots 
here  shown,  the  place  is  venerable  in  his  eyes.  As  he 
stands  in  the  cave  chapel  below  the  church,  where  sixteen 
silver  lamps  shed  their  light  upon  the  star  in  the  pavement 
marked  as  the  birthplace  of  Christ,  he  certainly  will  not  in¬ 
dulge  in  very  absolute  denials  of  the  fact,  when  he  remem¬ 
bers  that  Justin,  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century, 
speaks  of  the  birthplace  as  a  cave  near  the  village;  that  Ori- 
gen,  in  the  third  century,  affirms  the  fact  and  place  to  be 
matter  of  notoriety  even  among  the  heathen;  and  that  Hele¬ 
na,  in  the  following  century,  erected  her  church  over  a  place 
long  had  in  reverence.  But  however  this  may  be,  in  another 
subterranean  cave  the  visitor  stands  in  an  unmistakable 
place — the  study  of  the  great  father  Jerome,  where  he,  dur¬ 
ing  more  than  thirty  years,  elaborated  his  translation  of  the 
Bible  and  his  commentaries;  while  in  an  adjoining  room 
you  stand  by  his  undoubted  tomb.  It  is  something,  too, 
on  ascending  above-ground  to  enter  the  oldest  specimen  of 
Christian  architecture — the  fine  basilica  built  by  Helena 
within  two  years  of  the  Council  of  Nice.  In  visiting  the 
chapel  of  the  twenty  thousand  slaughtered  “  Innocents,”  the 
traveller  will  naturally  erase  only  three  ciphers  from  the 
sum  total. 

With  the  customary  stock  of  Bethlehem  wares  of  olive- 
wood  and  mother-of-pearl,  we  set  forth  for  Mar  Saba  and 
the  Dead  Sea,  taking  many  a  long  lingering  look  of  the  his¬ 
toric  village  and  valley,  till  they  were  shut  out  of  sight. 
Our  journey  kept  us  going  up  and  down  and  circuitously 


446 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


about,  very  much  like  riding  indiscriminately  over  the 
roughest  hilly  portions  of  Vermont  and  Hew  Hampshire 
without  regard  to  roads  or  paths,  except  sheep  -  paths.  It 
had  been  a  somewhat  similar  experience  in  our  excursion  to 
Neby  Samwil  and  Gibeah;  and  so  it  proved  subsecpiently 
through  the  hill-country,  unless  where  we  followed  wadies 
or  the  occasional  plains.  The  roughness  of  the  surface  I 
was  not  fully  prepared  for,  and  yet  a  roughness  that  was 
manifestly  compatible  with  a  singular  fertility  and  produc¬ 
tiveness  under  cultivation.  The  curse  of  the  country  is  that 
the  heel  of  the  Turk  is  on  it  now,  and  there  is  no  encourage¬ 
ment  to  industry  and  no  safety  for  its  fruits.  On  the  way, 
as  we  reached  the  sunny  exposures,  we  could  look  down 
over  the  green  slopes  and  declivities,  and  see  them  perfectly 
brilliant  with  a  carpeting  of  flowers  of  every  bright  color. 
This  feature  of  the  landscape  was  continually  forced  upon 
our  admiration.  I  had  never  seen  anything  to  compare 
with  the  abundance  and  variety  of  this  floral  display. 

As  we  rode  on,  the  clouds  nearly  dispersed ;  and  when  at 
length  we  reached  a  height  from  which  we  could  look  down 
upon  the  Dead  Sea,  it  was  a  sort  of  apocalyptic  vision,  liter¬ 
ally  “  clothed  with  a  rainbow.1’  On  its  blue  waters  rested 
one  end  of  the  broad  beautiful  arch,  and  the  other  was  far 
up  on  the  hills  toward  Jerusalem.  At  length  we  struck  the 
southern  edge  of  the  deep  gorge  of  the  Kedron,  which  comes 
direct  from  the  foot  of  Jerusalem,  and  we  followed  it  till, 
in  three  hours  from  Bethlehem,  we  came  in  sight  of  our 
halting -place,  the  old  convent  of  Mar  Saba,  the  strangest 
building  in  Palestine,  and  one  of  the  most  singular  places 
in  the  world.  It  is  perched  upon  the  very  edge  of  the  deep 
rock-ravine  of  Kedron,  and  made  up,  inside  and  out,  by  an 
odd  mixture  of  natural  rock  and  masonry.  Its  central  feat¬ 
ure  is  the  rude  den  out  of  which  Saint  Sabas  drove  its  orig- 


THE  DEAD  SEA,  FROM  THE  NORTH. 


TO.  JERICHO. 


449 


inal  lion  proprietor,  and  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  long  life  of  ninety-four  years.  Above  and  below  and 
around  this  dark  hole  are  piled  in  confusion  chambers, 
cells,  caverns,  chapels,  and  steep  stair-ways,  and  rock-hewn 
irregular  passages,  and  buttresses  and  a  tower  or  two,  all  en¬ 
closed  by  a  massive  wall  that  bars  out  the  Bedouin  and  the 
woman  alike.  Here,  where  nearly  fourteen  centuries  ago 
the  old  belligerent  saint  gathered  round  him  his  thousands 
of  disciples,  some  forty  ignorant  and  dyspeptic  Greek  monks 
now  scarcely  vegetate.  ISTo  meat  is  ever  allowed  them,  and 
eggs  only  on  Sundays;  and  their  mental  nourishment  has 
been  found  by  travellers  to  be  in  the  same  proportion.  As 
one  of  our  tents  had  been  thoroughly  drenched  on  the  way 
by  the  fall  of  the  mule  in  the  midst  of  a  stream,  we  were 
glad  to  take  up  our  abode  in  the  convent,  and  so  to  find  our 
way  through  its  various  intricacies  at  our  convenience.  As 
we  emerged  the  next  day,  and  at  a  turn  of  the  way  looked 
back  upon  this  strange  home,  with  a  slight  knowledge  of  the 
character  of  its  inmates,  it  was  difficult  to  think  of  it  in  any 
light  very  different  from  that  of  a  nest  of  swallows  in  the 
side  of  a  huge  sand -bank,  or  a  wasp’s  nest  glued  to  a  rock. 

We  sent  our  baggage  direct  to  Jericho,  and  ourselves 
pushed  on  toward  the  Dead  Sea.  It  was  a  wild  ride,  over 
hill  and  valley,  and  occasionally  along  a  steep  precipice 
some  two  hundred  feet  deep  or  more.  At  length  we  came 
forth  from  the  hilly  seclusion,  and  caught  sight  of  the 
strange  sheet  of  water  lying  dark  in  its  deep  bed  of  yellow 
limestone  cliffs.  The  cloudiness  of  the  day  prevented  the 
blinding  glare  of  the  rocks,  and  the  whole  scene  was  dreamy 
and  weird.  As  we  descended  the  hills,  we  had  a  startling 
reminder  of  the  unique  situation  of  this  leaden  lake,  when 
our  aneroid  barometer  ceased  its  indications.  It  was  calcu¬ 
lated  to  start  from  the  ocean  level,  and  failed  to  provide  for 

29 


450 


FROM  EGYPT  TO'  PALESTINE. 


M  UKHMflS 

M/CHMASH 


ALITMATHy 
IANTA 
AN  AT NOTH 


%Aui  Mafia 
BETHHOFL/F 


ElMariwftfWJ. 

BtTHflwy  - 


S>-'Sanfa,  Saha, 

toms* 


JvbdiLExradi 

'l-IEHOOlUM 


m  iR  ^0f(p 


manat , 


MSP 


OTP""' 


Jidfc 
//V£*<EN  CEDI  A; 

*3gk 


"■■''<  7^7 

Ma^adct  '-- 

M1UASADA.O-  ww* 


ajiJ  '' ..  x.  *£r 


m 

\cther  a 


m£st*pm 


Ba 


this  one  solitary 
case  on  the  earth’s 
surface,  of  a  great 
lake  lying  thirteen 
hundred  feet  be¬ 
low  that  level.  In 
four  hours  from 
Mar  Saba  we  were 
on  the  plain  at  the 
head  of  the  sea, 
passing  some  tall 
“  reeds  shaken  with 
the  wind,”  from 
six  to  near  twelve 
feet  high ;  reeds 
to  which  John  the 
Baptist  could  not 
be  compared.  We 
made  a  long  halt 
on  the  shore,  where 
the  waves  came 
rolling  in  with  a 
heavy  surf.  The 
two  junior  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  com¬ 
pany  tried  the  ex¬ 
periment  of  a  hath, 
floating  high  out 
of  the  water,  and 
afterward  finding 
map  op  the  dead  sea.  their  hair  and  whis¬ 

kers  well  gummed 

together.  I  contented  myself  with  drinking  the  water, 


TO  JERICHO. 


451 


which  tasted  much  like  a  strong  solution  of  common  salt, 
and  Glaubers  salts. 

From  this  northern  extremity  of  the  sea  we  rode  north¬ 
easterly  an  hour  to  the  fords  of  the  Jordan.  We  had  a 
formidable  adventure  almost  at  the  outset.  The  region  im- 
mediately  before  us  was  marshy,  and  the  late  rains  had 
made  a  part  of  this  plain  almost  as  watery  and  muddy  as 
a  “  slough-hole  ”  on  a  western  prairie.  In  truth,  it  wTas  for 
some  distance  an  almost  continuous  sheet  of  water,  with 
clumps  of  tall  grass  and  some  bushes  rising  above  the  sur¬ 
face.  We  pushed  boldly  in.  The  dragoman  was  quite 
willing  to  be  the  hindmost,  but  we  obliged  him  to  lead. 
For  a  few  minutes  all  went  comparatively  well;  but  soon 
came  a  floundering  and  plunging.  The  horses  sank  to  their 
bellies,  and  once  or  twice  still  deeper,  until  sheikh,  drag¬ 
oman,  and  three  of  our  company,  were  rolled  successively 
from  their  seats,  to  pick  their  way  by  leaping  from  clump  to 
clump  as  best  they  could.  I  was  the  only  person  fortunate 
enough  to  get  through  without  dismounting,  and  there  w’ere 
times  when  the  prospect  of  getting  through  in  any  way 
seemed  quite  uncertain.  We  afterward  learned  that,  on  the 
same  day,  a  lady  in  a  company  that  preceded  us  had  been 
thrown  at  full  length  into  the  mud  and  water.  However, 
we  were  soon  safe  on  firm  ground,  and  made  our  way  to 
the  fords  of  the  Jordan. 

The  river  was  very  high.  We  were,  indeed,  fortunate 
enough  to  see  it  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  described  in 
Joshua,  “  overflowing  all  its  banks” — that  is,  the  wdiole  line 
of  its  banks.  The  turbid  stream  rushed  along  like  a  mill- 
race;  and  though  it  had  fallen  from  its  greatest  height,  the 
proper  banks  of  the  channel  were  invisible,  and  indicated 
only  by  lines  of  oleanders  and  other  shrubs  and  trees.  The 
ordinary  resting  and  camping  place  of  travellers  was  com- 


452 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


pletely  under  water,  and  inaccessible.  The  current  was  so 
swift  that  a  gentleman  of  another  company,  who  went  in  to 
bathe,  was  not  suffered  by  his  friends  to  do  so  without  a  rope 
most  unromantically  attached  to  his  person.  Turbid  as  the 
river  was,  we  drank  of  its  water  at  lunch,  as  we  sat  near  a 
clump  of  oleanders.  Here  the  whole  situation  of  this  sin¬ 
gular  river,  the  Jordan,  or  “Descender,”  was  apparent:  first, 
a  proper  channel,  bordered  with  trees  and  shrubs,  in  which 
the  stream  ordinarily  is  confined,  and  plunges  along;  this 
channel  lying  in  a  low  valley,  from  which  you  soon  rise  by 
a  slight  ascent  to  the  general  “  plain  \JdkJcar]  of  the  Jor¬ 
dan,”  here  several  miles  broad,  and  itself  enclosed  by  high 
hills,  almost  mountains,  on  each  side.  The  soil,  in  some  por¬ 
tions,  is  singularly  rich ;  and  in  this  deep  depression,  shut 
in  by  its  high  mountain  walls,  the  heat  is  almost  tropical. 
Jericho  was  once  “  the  city  of  palms.” 

The  way  we  followed  westward  from  the  fords  must  have 
been  on  the  line  of  Joshua’s  march  after  the  crossing  of  the 
Jordan ;  and  a  mile  east  of  Riba,  or  Eriha,  must  have  been 
the  Gilgal  of  his  first  encampment,  some  three  miles  or 
more  from  the  fords.  The  forlorn  village  of  Riha  is  the 
site  of  the  Jericho  of  Herod,  where  Christ  healed  the  blind 
man,  and  called  Zaccheus.  Here  were  to  be  seen  plenty  of 
old  squared  stones  lying  scattered  around,  and  many  others 
built  into  low  Arab  shanties.  I  saw  a  good  many  fig-trees, 
but  no  “  sycamores,”  although  some  specimens  still  exist 
in  the  vicinity.  The  palm  has  wholly  disappeared.  We 
looked  around  the  scene  of  ruin  and  desolation,  but  felt 
little  inclination  to  venture  within  the  fence  of  dry  thorns 
that  encloses  the  pettj7  village,  notoriously  filthy  and  vile. 
As  we  rode  a  mile  and  a  half  north,  to  the  site  of  the  more 
ancient  Jericho  of  Joshua’s  days,  the  soil  revealed  its  sin<m- 
lar  fertility  in  noble  grain-crops  and  weeds  of  monstrous 


TO  JERICHO. 


453 


growth.  I  rode  by  specimens  of  wild  mustard  as  high  as 
my  head  on  horseback,  “  a  tree  in  which  the  fowls  of  the  air 
may  lodge.”  A  paved  road,  traceable  for  some  distance, 
and  scattered  ruins  on  the  way,  tell  of  former  days  of  glory. 
We  passed  at  length  by  a  fountain  and  stream  now  called 
Ain  es  Sultan.  A  considerable  reservoir  is  enclosed  by 
stone  walls,  and  there  is  particularly  a  high  wall  just  above 
the  place  where  the  water  gushes  forth  from  the  hill-side. 
This  is  one  of  the  unquestionable  antiquities,  the  fountain 
of  Elisha.  From  the  very  place  of  its  origin  the  water 
rushes  off  a  good-sized  brook,  and  various  ruins,  one  evi¬ 
dently  of  a  mill,  are  found  along  its  path. 

We  pitched  our  tents  some  rods  north  of  the  fountain. 
The  whole  area  around  them  was  raised  above  the  general 
level.  We  were  encamped,  no  doubt,  within  the  space 
around  which  the  children  of  Israel  once  marched  for  seven 
days  blowing  their  jubilee  trumpets,  and  where  Aclian 
found  the  goodly  Babylonish  mantle  and  the  wedge  of  gold. 
Just  west  of  our  camp,  toward  the  mountain,  were  two  par¬ 
allel  rows  of  mounds,  extending  some  distance  north  and 
south.  They  rise,  in  their  highest  parts,  toward  a  hundred 
feet  above  the  plain.  In  one  or  two  places  excavations  had 
recently  been  made  to  a  considerable  depth,  and  they  re¬ 
vealed  the  fact  that  the  mounds  are  made  of  the  debris  of 
old  buildings.  The  outline  of  crude  brick  walls  of  houses 
could  be  seen  to  the  bottom  of  the  excavations,  and  the 
earth  was  full  of  fragments  of  pottery.  In  various  direc¬ 
tions  are  to  be  seen  ruins  of  later  date,  and  in  the  side  of 
Mount  Quarantania,  which  rises  abruptly  a  little  farther 
west,  are  abundant  artificial  caves,  once  tenanted  by  hermits 
and  anchorites.  The  whole  plain  lying  eastward  was  cov¬ 
ered  with  luxuriant  vegetation,  a  very  picture  of  fertility. 
But  no  dwelling,  I  think,  is  to  be  seen  anywhere  within  the 


454 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


probable  circuit  of  the  ancient  city.  Nothing  even  remains 
to  indicate  that  there  ever  were  walls  here  to  fall  down. 
The  removal  of  all  its  building  material  is,  of  course,  suf¬ 
ficiently  accounted  for  by  the  rise  of  the  neighboring  and 
later  city — the  invariable  law  of  Oriental  building  being  to 
plunder  an  older  place  in  order  to  build  a  newer. 

In  looking  over  this  region  of  desolate  fertility  capable 
of  being,  as  Lot  once  thought  it,  “  the  garden  of  the  Lord,” 
and  in  viewing  many  other  similar  scenes  in  Palestine — in¬ 
deed,  the  whole  of  that  once  highly  cultivated  region,  where 
the  very  traces  of  fertility  are  so  obliterated  that  casual  ob¬ 
servers  fail  to  see  them — the  prime  thought  that  rises  in 
one’s  mind  is  of  the  hideousness  of  the  government  whose 
heavy  hand  has  so  cursed  the  land  for  centuries,  and  crushed 
out  all  the  stimulus  and  the  hope  of  honest  toil. 


THE  LINE  OF  JOSHUA'S  MARCH. 


455 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  LINE  OF  JOSHUA’S  MARCH. 

On  the  morning  of  March  25th  we  left  the  scene  of 
Joshua’s  great  demonstration,  and  probably  still  farther 
followed  his  track.  Our  route  being  the  most  direct  from 
Jericho  to  Ai,  the  place  of  his  next  attack,  may  have  coin¬ 
cided,  in  the  main,  with  that  of  the  first  and  second  expedi¬ 
tion  against  that  city,  and  with  the  repeated  line  of  march 
back  to  “the  camp  of  Gilgal” — unless  we  suppose  with  Keil, 
against  the  common  opinion,  a  transfer  of  the  camp,  not 
even  hinted  at,  to  another  Gilgal,  now  Jiljilia,  some  miles 
north-west  of  Ai.  By  the  same  path,  most  likely,  had  Elijah 
and  Elisha  come  down  on  the  last  journey  of  the  great 
prophet. 

Our  way  entered  at  once  into  the  mountain  range  on  the 
west,  Quarantania,  the  traditional  region  of  the  forty  days’ 
temptation.  At  first  we  followed  Wady  Kelt,  which  Rob¬ 
inson  thought  might  be  the  brook  Cherith  of  Elijah’s  retreat, 
but  in  regard  to  which  Tristram,  Grove,  and  others  have 
objected.  After  winding  about  for  a  long  time  in  this 
wady,  we  climbed  up  the  hill-sides,  till  we  had  a  superb 
view  of  the  Jordan  valley  and  the  Dead  Sea,  of  the  latter 
our  farewell  view.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  aspects  of 
the  country  at  this  time  was  the  complete  carpeting  of 
flowers  that  covered  it.  This  morning  it  was  beautiful  with 
almost  every  shade  of  color — red,  white,  blue,  yellow,  scarlet, 
crimson,  purple.  Large  areas  were  almost  sheeted  with  the 


456 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


scarlet  of  the  anemone  Coronaria,  supposed  by  Tristram  and 
many  others  to  be  the  “  lily  of  the  field,”  though  not  a  lili¬ 
aceous  flower.  After  a  rough  ride  we  reached,  in  time  for 
lunch,  the  rock  Iiimmon,  where  the  six  hundred  Benjamites 
were  hemmed  in  for  four  months.  The  rocky  hill  rises 
sharply  from  a  very  deep  ravine,  which  encloses  it  nearly 
all  round.  A  few  houses  and  an  ancient  cistern  mark  the 
place.  From  the  abrupt  edge  on  the  south-west  the  view 
was  wide  and,  in  its  immediate  surroundings,  historic.  Just 
south,  three  miles  away,  was  Michmash,  the  place  of  Jona¬ 
than's  chivalrous  adventure.  Less  than  two  miles  south¬ 
west  of  us  was  the  probable  site  of  Ai  (which  we  had  passed 
on  the  way),  showing  a  ravine  on  “the  west  side  of  Ai”  for 
the  ancient  “ambush,”  and  a  plain  or  valley  “on  the  north 
side  of  the  city  ”  for  Joshua’s  main  army  of  assault,  and 
plenty  of  places  from  which  the  signal  spear  could  have 
been  seen.  Less  than  four  miles  due  west,  though  hidden 
by  intervening  heights,  was  Bethel. 

It  was  from  this  centre,  apparently,  that  Joshua  pushed 
his  conquests,  first  against  Gibeon,  thence  southward  against 
Lachish,  Eglon,  and  Hebron,  and  afterward  north  to  the  sea 
of  “  Chinneroth,”  and  Mount  Herrnon,  and  the  waters  of 
Merom,  “  even  unto  Baal-gad,  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon 
under  Mount  Herrnon.”  Instead  of  coming  from  the  south 
and  fighting  his  way  up  over  the  whole  length  of  the  moun¬ 
tain  chain  of  Palestine,  bristling  with  strongholds,  he  had 
entered  it  by  a  flank  movement  near  the  centre.  Crossing 
the  Jordan  at  the  time  of  year  when  the  river  seemed  im¬ 
passable,  striking  terror  by  the  capture  of  Jericho,  he  had, 
by  a  march  of  fifteen  miles,  taken  another  stronghold,  placed 
himself  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  divided  the  hostile 
forces  in  two,  and  with  singular  energy  struck  first  south¬ 
ward,  then  northward,  carrying  all  before  him,  until  with 


THE  LINE  OF  JOSHUA'S  MARCH. 


457 


an  ancient  Napoleonic  strategy  and  impetuosity  he  had 
swept  the  land  in  detail. 

We  were  also  upon  the  line  of  the  Assyrian  march,  so 
graphically  depicted  in  Isaiah  (ch.  x.)  where  Sennacherib 
sweeps  on  from  Ai  (“Aiatli”),  leaves  his  baggage  at  Mich- 
mash,  camps  at  Geba,  while  Hamah  is  afraid,  Gibeah  is  fled, 
and  “  O  poor  Anathoth !”  All  these  places  lay  along  in 
close  succession  between  us  and  the  “  hill  of  Jerusalem,” 
against  which  he  should  “  shape  his  hand.” 

In  passing  from  Rimmon  to  Bethel,  we  traversed  a  very 
wild  region.  Our  track,  in  places,  reminded  me,  in  its 
roughness  and  steepness,  though  not  of  course  in  its  length, 
of  the  old  bridle-path  upon  the  White  Mountains.  At  one 
spot  I  dismounted  and  led  my  horse,  a  thing  which  formerly 
I  did  not  do  on  the  White  Mountains.  Yet  everywhere  the 
rocky  hill-sides,  as  well  as  the  sloping  valleys,  were  terraced ; 
but  everywhere  the  terraces  were  in  utter  ruins. 

Before  reaching  Bethel  we  passed  over  the  high  region  or 
“  mountain  east  of  Bethel,”  the  scene  of  an  ancient  great 
arrival  and  departure.  It  was  the  region  having  “Bethel 
on  the  west  and  Ilai  [Ai]  on  the  east,”  where  Abram  came 
and  “  pitched  his  tent,  budded  an  altar,  and  called  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord ;”  the  place  to  which  he  returned  from 
Egypt ;  the  place  from  which  Lot  lifted  up  his  eyes  and 
looked  before  he  travelled  to  the  plains  of  the  Jordan ;  the 
place  in  which  God  called  upon  Abram  to  look  northward 
and  southward  and  eastward  and  westward,  over  the  land 
that  now  became  the  land  of  promise.  This  was  the  centre 
from  which  he  was  to  walk  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  The  region  commands  a  wide  view ;  so  much 
so  that  even  from  Bethel  itself,  although  surrounded  on  all 
sides  but  the  south  by  higher  ground,  the  Dome  of  the  Rock 
in  Jerusalem  can  be  seen.  And  a  few  minutes  before  reach- 


458 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ing  our  camping-ground  on  this  lower  place,  I  could  look  off 
to  the  south-east  and  see  the  general  depression  of  the  Jor¬ 
dan  and  the  Dead  Sea  valley.  In  travelling  over  these 
places  one  begins  early  to  perceive  that  not  only  is  the 
geography  and  scenery  of  Palestine  “  a  fifth  gospel,”  but  it 
is  a  second  Pentateuch,  book  of  Joshua,  and  Kings.  The 
feeling  deepened  at  every  step  of  the  journey. 

Crossing  the  ridge,  we  descended  a  little  into  a  valley 
on  the  south-western  declivity,  where  two  copious  springs 
poured  out  of  the  ground.  A  large  stone  reservoir  (314  feet 
by  217)  once  collected  their  waters,  but  on  three  sides  it  is 
now  in  a  ruinous  condition,  to  match  the  whole  state  of  the 
country.  Twenty  minutes  before  our  arrival  the  rain  set 
in,  and  our  tents  were  an  hour  and  a  half  behind  time.  I 
took  shelter  for  awhile  in  the  remains  of  a  Greek  church, 
five  minutes’  walk  to  the  south-east.  On  the  higher  ground 
northward  I  found  several  acres  of  ruins,  presenting  noth¬ 
ing  distinct,  but  mostly  promiscuous  heaps  of  stones  and 
foundations.  It  was  the  vicinity  where  Abram  pitched  his 
tent  and  built  his  altar;  where  Jacob  had  his  vision  and 
returned  to  bury  Deborah;  where  Jeroboam  placed  his  tem¬ 
ple,  had  his  altar  rent,  and  his  hand  withered.  From  the 
water  that  flowed  out  of  the  hill-side,  native  girls  were  car¬ 
rying  jugs  balanced  on  their  heads,  as  in  the  days  of  Abra¬ 
ham  ;  but  the  young  men  brought  us  down  two  thousand 
years  toward  our  time  by  offering  to  sell  us  coins  of  Roman 
date  which  appeared  not  to  have  been  made  in  Birming¬ 
ham.  When  our  tents  arrived  the  rain  was  falling  fast,  and 
the  prospect  of  encamping  upon  a  soil  thoroughly  drenched 
was  not  hopeful.  But  mats  on  the  ground  and  a  cheerful 
dinner  soon  changed,  if  not  the  outlook,  yet  the  inside  con¬ 
dition,  and  we  listened  complacently  to  the  pattering  lul¬ 
laby,  which  continued  nearly  through  the  night. 


THE  LINE  OF  JOSHUA'S  MARCH. 


459 


In  the  morning  (March  26th)  the  rain  suspended  long 
enough  for  us  to.  fold  our  tents  and  get  fairly  under  way, 
then  followed  us  at  intervals  throughout  the  day.  We  had 
a  good  deal  of  similar  experience  during  the  remainder  of 
our  journey.  But  all  being  in  vigorous  health  and  strength, 
we  resolutely  faced  exposures  which  sadly  deranged,  and  in 
some  instances  wholly  broke  up,  certain  larger  and  mixed 
companies.  Indeed,  the  season  was  out  of  joint.  Tradi¬ 
tionally,  there  should  have  been  almost  no  rain  from  about 
the  10th  of  March  to  the  10th  of  April.  But  we  experi¬ 
enced  it  about  every  other  daj7,  and  we  took  Palestine,  or 
rather  Palestine  took  us,  by  storm.  We  entered  Bethlehem 
twice,  Jerusalem,  Bethel,  Jenin,  Shechem,  Samaria,  in  the 
rain.  And  it  seemed  at  times  as  if  the  Mediterranean — for 
the  wind  came  from  the  sea  —  was  migrating  up  into  the 
mountains.  The  road-beds,  whenever  we  left  the  rocks, 
were  masses  of  mud,  in  which  our  horses  floundered  and 
sunk,  and  the  loaded  beasts  sometimes  fell  with  their  bur¬ 
dens,  to. the  great  detriment  of  the  contents  of  our  valises. 
Indeed,  our  tents  fell  hopelessly  behind  us.  There  was  a 
grim  pleasure  in  casing  ourselves  in  india-rubber  from  top 
to  toe,  looking  much  like  modern  Knights  Templar,  and 
defying  the  elements.  We  occasionally  broke  the  force  of 
the  wind  and  the  rain,  at  first,  by  umbrellas,  but  these 
failed  us  in  the  hour  of  need.  I  remember  well  the  rocky, 
slippery  hill-path  before  reaching  Samaria,  where  my  horse 
stumbled,  twice  recovered  himself,  and  then  fell  sidewise, 
rolling  me  safely  off,  but  finally  smashing  the  useful  um¬ 
brella  which  had  sheltered  me  from  sun  and  rain  all  the 
way  from  Keswick,  England.  The  rain  was  pouring  in  tor¬ 
rents,  but  there  was  a  sense  of  relief  in  getting  rid  of  all 
the  effeminacies  of  civilization,  and  simply  roughing  it.  Of 
course,  this  state  of  things  gave  us  longer  and  harder  rides, 


4:60 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


early  starts,  and  late  arrivals.  But  it  certainly  impressed  on 
our  memories  the  physical  features  of  Palestine,  and  gave 
us  some  vivid  experiences  and  associations.  It  will  not  be 
easy,  for  example,  to  forget  the  rich  soil  of  the  southern 
branch  of  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  place  where  our 
horses  floundered  till  we  were  obliged  to  dismount  and 
wade  in  the  mud  and  water;  and  where  I  emerged  with 
my  feet  enlarged  to  twice  their  natural  size  and  weight  by 
the  adhesive  loam.  The  onlv  serious  inconvenience  we  ex- 
perienced  was  from  our  saddles  becoming  wet  by  the  driv¬ 
ing  of  the  rain,  and  the  careless  exposure  of  them  by  the 
Arabs  when  we  were  dismounted.  A  transient  tinge  of 
sciatica  was  the  penalty  for  this.  Otherwise,  it  was  a  sea¬ 
son  of  exhilaration,  healthy  appetite,  and  sound  sleep.  Still, 
in  view  of  the  badness  of  those  winter  roads,  and  the  im¬ 
mense  difficulties  of  travel,  which,  as  we  learned  and  saw, 
broke  down  many  of  the  horses  and  mules  employed  by  us 
and  other  travellers,  I  could  well  understand  the  force  of 
the  Saviour’s  admonition,  “  Pray  ye  that  your  flight  be  not 
in  the  winter and  I  could  appreciate  the  utter  improbabil¬ 
ity  of  any  census  being  appointed  by  the  ancient  govern¬ 
ment  which  would  have  required  long  journeys  in  the  win¬ 
ter  season. 

The  day’s  ride  north  from  Beitin,  or  Bethel,  though  a 
great  thoroughfare  in  all  times,  presented  less  of  historic 
interest.  The  whole  region,  as  we  went  northward,  was 
much  better  wooded  than  southern  Palestine,  and  gave  a 
more  distinct,  yet  faint,  impression  of  what  it  might  have 
been  in  former  days.  And  yet  how  is  it  possible  now  ade¬ 
quately  to  conceive  of  a  land  where  once  every  eminence 
was  crowned  with  its  city  or  village  filled  with  industries 
and  surrounded  by  cultivation,  but  is  represented  now  only 
by  shapeless  ruins  ?  We  rode  through  several  miles  of  fig- 


ENTRANCE  TO  NAELOUS, 


THE  LINE  OF  JOSHUA'S  MARCH. 


463 


trees  spreading  widely  on  each  side  of  the  way,  and  then  in 
like  manner  through  a  large  mass  of  olive-trees. 

Before  arriving  at  Ain  Haramiyeh  (the  “ Bobbers’  Glen”), 
a  favorite  halting -place  of  travellers,  we  went  through  a 
singularly  wild,  picturesque  valley,  narrow,  continually 
curving,  and  rising  high  above  the  road  by  a  series  of  ter¬ 
races  covered  with  olive  and  fig  trees.  I  saw  one  man  with 
his  mattock  “  digging  round”  his  fig-trees,  but  not  “  dung¬ 
ing”  them. 

A  little  off  from  the  direct  road,  on  the  right,  lay  the 
ancient  site  of  Shiloh  (Seilun),  once  famous  as  the  first 
home  of  the  Tabernacle,  the  scene  of  Samuel’s  consecra¬ 
tion  and  Eli’s  death,  now  showing  nothing  but  ruins,  mod¬ 
ern  and  ancient. 

At  one  o’clock,  when  we  sat  down  to  lunch  under  an  old 
olive-tree  at  the  foot  of  a  long  slope  on  the  western  side  of 
our  path,  I  counted  on  the  opposite  slope  ten,  and  in  some 
places  nineteen,  rows  of  olive-trees  rising  in  successive,  ir¬ 
regular  terraces  up  the  hill.  All  through  this  country,  thus 
far,  this  terracing  of  the  hill -sides  for  cultivation  is  the 
standing  proof  of  the  vast  amount  of  careful  labor  once  ex¬ 
pended  on  the  soil.  It  is  like  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  In 
most  cases  the  terraces  are  more  or  less  completely  in  ruins. 
With  our  meals  we  had  had  native  figs,  small  but  good,  and 
at  times  native  raisins  from  Jericho. 

Nablous,  or  Shechem,  has  been  often  described  in  detail. 
It  was  raining  hard  as  we  rode  along  the  beautiful  plain 
south  of  it,  admiring  its  beauty  and  fertility,  till  we  came 
to  the  valley  that  runs  directly  to  the  west  between  mounts 
Ebal  and  Gerizim,  the  place  where  Joshua  signalized  his 
victories  and  God’s  covenant  more  than  three  thousand 
years  ago. 

Just  at  the  angle  where  the  valley  leaves  the  plain,  a 


464 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


half-hour  from  the  city  of  Nablous,  is  the  undoubted  well 
where  Jesus  “sat  thus”  fatigued,  and  conversed  with  the 
woman.  We  rode  up  to  it  through  a  ruined  enclosure. 
Here  we  looked  down  into  a  vaulted  chamber  some  ten 
feet  square,  in  the  bottom  of  which  is  the  well.  It  was 
found  by  Maundrell  to  be  one  hundred  and  five  feet 
“  deep,”  although  now  but  seventy-five  or  eighty.  It  is  cut 
in  the  solid  rock,  nine  feet  in  diameter.  The  mouth  of  it 
is  covered  with  a  mass  of  stones  that  had  fallen  from  the 
roof  above.  In  the  present  state  of  the  soil,  we  were  warned 
that  it  was  not  safe  for  us  to  attempt  any  special  explora¬ 
tion,  had  there  been  anything  to  add  to  the  results  of  pre¬ 
vious  examinations.  A  little  north  of  it  is  the  low,  square 
limestone  building  which  is  generally  admitted  to  mark  the 
burial-place  of  the  faultless  Joseph.  The  “Sychar”  of  our 
Saviour’s  time  is  supposed  to  be  perpetuated  in  the  name 
Askar,  belonging  to  a  hamlet  half  a  mile  north-west.  As 
we  rode  into  Aablous  from  the  east,  the  road  for  quite  a 
distance  was  now  a  running  brook.  We  pushed  through 
the  whole  city  between  Ebal  and  Gerizim  on  a  straight, 
dark  street,  and  encamped  on  a  little  area  at  the  extreme 
west  of  the  city. 

In  the  evening  the  English  missionary,  Mr.  El  Karey, 
kindly  called,  and  offered  to  take  us  to  the  Samaritan  Syn¬ 
agogue.  The  little  Samaritan  community  is  now  reduced 
to  not  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty.  The  high -priest 
received  us,  showed  us  into  a  rude,  vaulted,  whitewashed 
room,  the  synagogue,  and  produced  from  a  recess,  that  was 
concealed  by  a  curtain,  the  famous  Samaritan  Pentateuch, 
which  we  had  come  chiefly  to  see.  lie,  however,  practised 
the  established  ruse,  and  brought  us  first  a  more  modern 
copy.  Our  guide  at  once  knew  the  difference,  and  called 
for  the  genuine  antiquity.  He  then  brought  an  embossed 


THE  LINE  OF  JOSHUA'S  MARCH 


465 


silver  cylinder,  which,  on  being  opened,  showed  a  parch¬ 
ment  roll  about  fifteen  inches  wide,  and  evidently  several 
yards  in  length,  written  in  Samaritan  characters.  At  the 
place  where  it  is  usually  opened  it  is  badly  defaced.  The 
high-priest  has  by  this  time  abandoned  all  the  pretence  of 
awe  and  apprehension  which  he  exhibited  to  Tristram,  and 
the  backsheesh  necessary  is  reduced  to  a  very  moderate  sum. 
The  immense  antiquity  claimed  for  it  (written  by  Abisha, 
the  son  of  Phinehas)  is,  of  course,  hardly  worth  a  contra¬ 
diction.  But  the  actual  age  of  the  manuscript  is  certainly 
a  question  of  interest  for  competent  investigators,  if  such 
there  are. 

Mr.  El  Karey  himself  claims  to  have  fallen  upon  a  re¬ 
markable  passage  concerning  our  Saviour  among  the  old 
records  of  this  people.  In  the  annals  of  the  priesthood  he 
finds,  as  he  alleges,  a  record  supposed  itself  to  be  seven  or 
eight  hundred  years  old,  and  copied  from  a  much  older 
manuscript.  Ilis  supposed  discovery  has  been,  I  believe, 
frequently  made  known,  and  perhaps  formally  communi¬ 
cated.  The  form  in  which  I  took  it  down  is  as  follows : 
“And  in  his  days  was  born  Jesus,  the  impostor,  the  son  of 
Mary,  the  son  of  Joseph,  the  carpenter.  Ilis  birth  was  in 
Bethlehem,  and  [he]  professed  to  be  a  prophet  in  Kazareth, 
and  he  had  a  great  many  followers,  whom  he  dispersed  in 
the  country.  And  after  the  death  of  Yohekerem,  who  was 
succeeded  by  Yohanatan,  Jesus  was  persecuted  and  cruci¬ 
fied  in  the  days  of  Tabrobrus,  through  the  standing  men  in 
the  accursed  city  of  Jerusalem.”  It  does  not  distinctly  ap¬ 
pear  that  Mr.  El  Karey  is  in  any  way  able  to  authenticate 
this  record  as  being  really  ancient,  while  the  internal  im¬ 
probabilities  are  sufficiently  manifest. 

But  this  little  remnant  of  the  Samaritan  community  and 
worship  undoubtedly  keeps  the  continuity  of  connection 

30 


466 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


with  the  time  of  our  Lord.  On  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim, 
just  south  of  the  town,  is  their  sacred  place,  where  they 
worshipped  when  Christ  conversed  with  the  woman  at  the 
well.  It  is  a  large  rock  surface,  surrounded  by  traces  of 
old  walls.  Toward  it  they  still  turn  their  faces  in  prayer, 
and  they  put  off  their  shoes  as  they  approach  it.  Not  far 
away,  lower  down  toward  the  town,  is  the  spot  where  they 
still  annually  eat  the  paschal  lamb,  with  staff  in  hand,  shoes 
on  their  feet,  and  girdles  (of  rope)  around  their  waists,  “  eat¬ 
ing  with  haste,*’  and  all  that  is  left  “  burning  with  fire,”  as 
witnessed  by  Mr.  Porter  and  Dean  Stanley.  The  custom  is 
a  separate  and  venerable  link  of  connection  with  the  most 
ancient  observance  of  Israel  in  its  departure  from  the  land 
of  bondage,  as  is  also  their  fragmentary  Bible,  the  Penta¬ 
teuch,  another  bond  of  connection  with  the  Jewish  history 
at  a  point  of  divergence  a  century  older  than  the  Septua- 
gint,  and,  as  some  think,  as  old  as  the  days  of  Behoboam. 
This  slender  thread  of  connection  may  soon  pass  away  in 
the  extinction  of  the  little  community. 

Ebal  on  the  north,  and  Gerizim  on  the  south,  carry  us 
back  to  the  intermediate  point,  the  thorough  possession  of 
the  land  by  Joshua,  when  the  great  warrior  arrayed  the 
tribes  on  these  two  eminences,  while  the  Levites  with  a  loud 
voice  uttered  the  blessing  and  the  cursing  in  their  hearing. 
These  eminences  lie  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  narrow  val¬ 
ley  that  contains  the  town,  and  they  rise  abruptly,  so  near 
each  other  that  when  Tristram’s  two  companions  tried  the 
experiment  of  reciting  the  commandments  antiphonally  from 
the  two  mountains,  they,  heard  with  perfect  distinctness. 
The  view  of  these  mountains  from  our  camp  at  the  western 
end  of  the  city  was  very  striking. 


THROUGH  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  PALESTINE.  469 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THROUGH  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  PALESTINE. 

We  left  Xablons  (Shechem)  on  the  morning  of  March 
27th,  and  were  soon  attended  on  our  way  by  showers  of  rain 
and  hail.  We  took  the  road  to  Sebustiyeh,  the  ancient  Sa¬ 
maria.  The  way  at  first  continued  westward  down  a  valley 
filled  with  gardens  and  orchards  containing  half  a  dozen 
kinds  of  fruit-trees,  and  bordered  by  hill -side  margins  of 
vineyards  and  olive-trees.  The  little  brook  which  we  soon 
struck  and  followed  was  now  swollen  to  a  goodly  stream. 
Near  the  ford  where  we  crossed,  a  Roman  arch  told  of  the 
same  heavy  hand  whose  work  we  had  tracked  all  the  way 
from  Chester,  Lincoln,  up  the  Rhine,  to  its  central  home, 
and  again  through  Egypt,  and  now  over  the  land  of  the  cov¬ 
enant.  Our  path  soon  left  the  stream  and  began  climbing 
the  hills,  and  in  two  hours  and  a  half  we  were  at  the  foot  of 
the  sightly  eminence  where  Omri  placed  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  and  Aliab  built  the  Temple  of  Baal. 
Rising  as  it  does  near  the  centre  of  a  great  basin,  and  en¬ 
circled  on  all  sides  by  distant  hills,  a  stronger  or  a  more 
showy  location  could  not  be  found  in  the  country.  A  brill¬ 
iant  object  it  must  have  been  to  the  eye  in  its  prosperous 
days,  when  its  streets  and  splendid  colonnades  literally  en¬ 
circled  the  eminence,  and  all  its  public  buildings  stood  dis¬ 
played  in  their  full  proportions. 

The  first  stage  of  historic  association  we  encountered  in 
the  fine  ruins  of  the  Church  of  St.  John,  half  way  up  the 


470 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


hill,  as  we  entered  the  modern  village.  The  mutilated 
crosses  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  carry  ns  back  to  the  time 
of  the  Crusades,  and  the  northern  wall  and  tower  to  an  old¬ 
er  date,  probably  near  to  the  time  when  its  bishops  attended 
the  Council  of  Nice.  Ascending  to  an  area  near  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  the  hill,  we  saw  seventeen  columns  (two  of  them  fall¬ 
en),  which,  however,  have  lost  every  distinctive  feature  that 
would  tell  us  whether  they  belonged  to  an  alleged  Greek 
church  and  monastery,  or  to  a  heathen  temple.  But  as  we 
wound  around  the  hill  on  the  horizontal  belt  or  terrace  that 
runs  along  on  nearly  the  same  level  as  the  modern  village, 
we  were  probably  walking  among  the  ruins  of  Herod’s  mag¬ 
nificence,  through  a  colonnade  that  sweeps  round  the  whole 
southern  half  of  the  hill  for  a  distance  of  at  least  three- 
fifths  of  a  mile.  Sixty  standing  columns,  and  many  fallen 
ones,  in  a  row  fifty  feet  in  width,  mark  the  line  of  a  street 
more  conspicuously  showy  than  perhaps  the  world  could  of¬ 
fer  elsewhere.  On  the  northern  slope  of  the  hill  we  passed 
another  solitary  group  of  fifteen  headless  columns,  which 
once  formed  an  equally  conspicuous  object  on  this  side. 
Fragments  of  columns  were  scattered  here  and  there,  and 
others  could  be  seen  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

No  traces  of  any  earlier  date  could  be  expected  after 
the  effectual  demolition  of  everything  destructible  by  John 
Ilyrcanus.  Before  him,  however,  Alexander  had  been  here 
and  captured  this  stronghold,  and  before  him  Shalmanezer; 
and  we  were  looking  forth  upon  the  scene  from  which  the 
defeated  Benhadad  “escaped  on  a  horse  with  the  horse¬ 
men,”  from  which,  afterward,  the  whole  Syrian  army  “arose 
and  fled  at  midnight,”  dismayed  by  an  explicable  noise,  and 
to  which  the  bleeding  body  of  Ahab  was  brought  in  his 
chariot,  when  “  the  dogs  licked  up  his  blood.”  The  com¬ 
plete  absence  of  relics  of  those  times,  except  the  hill  itself, 


THROUGH  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  PALESTINE.  471 


made  it  more  difficult  to  realize  the  transactions  than  in 
most  other  places,  where  at  least  some  reservoir,  or  rock- 
tomb,  or  old  foundation-stones,  offer  a  hint  of  the  hoariest 
antiquity.  As  we  rode  away  over  the  northern  hills,  we  in¬ 
voluntarily  lingered  to  take  one  more  view  of  this  romantic 
and  attractive  site,  and  its  melancholy  tokens  of  ancient 
grandeur. 

The  remainder  of  the  day’s  ride  offered  nothing  of  pecu¬ 
liar  interest.  We  went  over  the  usual  varietv  of  Palestinian 

t j 

mountain  scenerv.  One  of  the  most  notable  novelties  to 
me  was  a  large  number  of  sycamore-trees,  the  structure  of 
which  at  once  reminds  us  of  Zaccheus.  The  tree  invariably 
sends  out  its  branches  low  down,  and  at  first  almost  horizon¬ 
tally.  They  are  thus  very  easy  to  climb.  The  branches, 
however,  after  growing  laterally  several  feet,  then  shoot  up¬ 
ward,  and,  after  drooping  again,  become  singularly  contort¬ 
ed.  Through  this  region,  also,  I  began  to  see  large  quan¬ 
tities  of  bellan ,  the  low  thorn-bush  of  Christ’s  parable  of  the 
sower.  It  was  impossible,  in  various  places,  not  to  recognize 
the  fact  to*  which  Mr.  Thomson  calls  attention,1  that  here 
only  could  be  the  nativity  of  such  a  parable — the  people 
living  in  villages  from  which  the  sower  “  went  forth,  to 
sow,”  and  to  a  region  in  the  neighborhood,  where  there  is 
no  division  of  land  by  fences,  but  where  the  narrow  foot¬ 
paths  furnishing  “  the  way-side,”  the  rock-surface  with  “  no 
depth  of  earth,”  the  “  thorns,”  and  the  “  good  ground,”  all 
lie  sometimes  closely  packed  together  within  the  compass 
of  a  few  rods. 

Our  day’s  ride  was  very  long  and  weary.  The  roads  were 
in  many  places  excessively  bad,  and  forced  us  at  times  into 
long  detours  to  keep  on  the  rocky  surfaces,  thus  avoiding 


1  The  Land  and  the  Book,  i.  115. 


472 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  low  grounds.  In  one  place,  just  beyond  the  village 
of  Kubatiyeh,  to  the  west,  lay  the  plain  of  Dothan,  that  is 
identified  with  the  sale  of  Joseph  and  the  blinding  of  the 
Syrian  soldiery  by  Elisha.  Here  Lieutenant  Anderson  re¬ 
ports  numerous  rock-hewn,  bottle-shaped  cisterns,  that  would 
furnish  a  suitable  pit  for  the  patriarch  ;  and  Tristram  found 
“  the  best  pasturage  in  the  country,”  and  breakfasted  by  an 
ancient  well,  round  which,  possibly,  Jacob’s  sons  may  have 
sat  talking  over  their  bargain  with  the  merchants.  Upon 
the  east  of  us  lay  a  great  sheet  of  water  covering  the  ground 
where  the  road  usually  went.  Our  loaded  mules  had  at 
times  much  difficulty  in  struggling  through  with  their  bur¬ 
dens.  Oriental  indifference  and  selfishness  was  well  exhib¬ 
ited  in  a  little  incident  that  occurred  on  the  way.  As  we 
began  to  ascend  a  hilly  part  of  the  road,  we  overtook  an 
Arab  boy,  about  twelve  or  fourteen  years  old,  driving  a 
donkey  which  was  loaded  with  a  large  bag,  apparently  of 
grain.  The  load  was  heavy,  and,  in  the  struggles  of  the  ani¬ 
mal,  lost  its  balance  and  came  to  the  ground  just  as  we  ap¬ 
proached.  The  bag  was  utterly  beyond  the  strength  of  the 
boy  to  manage.  lie  burst  out  into  a  cry  of  despair,  and 
wrung  his  hands.  There  was  no  house  anywhere  around, 
nor  any  living  being  to  be  seen  but  ourselves.  Our  escort, 
dragoman  and  all,  were  going  coolly  by,  leaving  the  poor 
little  fellow  in  his  wretched  plight;  and  it  required  a  very 
positive  assertion  of  authority  to  make  them  stop  for  two 
minutes  and  relieve  the  boy.  There  surely  was  need  enough 
now  in  Palestine  for  another  legislation  like  that  of  old, 
more  than  covering  this  case — “If  thou  see  the  ass  of  him 
that  hateth  thee  lvinsj  under  his  burden,  and  wouldest  for- 
bear  to  help  him,  thou  shalt  surely  help  with  him.”2 


2  Exod.  xxiii.  5. 


THROUGH  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  PALESTINE.  475 


It  was  late  when  we  reached  Jenin  (Engannim),  cold, 
tired,  and  hungry.  Our  tents  were  far  behind,  and  we  did 
not  see  them  again  for  some  days.  A  brazier  of  coals 
warmed  us  up.  A  good  dinner  cheered  our  spirits,  and  in  a 
stone  house,  in  a  small  upper  room  about  twelve  feet  square, 
we  four  slept  soundly.  We  learned  that,  two  or  three  days 
previously,  the  same  small  quarters  had  been  the  best  and 
only  accommodations  that  could  be  found  for  ten  ladies  be¬ 
longing  to  a  large  company  of  travellers. 

On  Saturday,  March  28th,  we  set  off  at  eight  o’clock,  to 
be  attended  again  all  day,  at  intervals,  by  heavy  showers. 
As  we  emerged  from  the  village,  we  were  among  gardens 
hedged  with  prickly  pear,  and  containing  some  orange- 
groves,  and  we  looked  back  upon  a  huddled  cluster  of  stone 
dwellings,  relieved  by  here  and  there  a  tall  palm-tree,  and 
lying  on  the  northern  slope  of  a  hill  partly  covered  with 
olive-trees.  Immediately  before  and  below  us  lay  the  south¬ 
ern  of  the  three  arms  into  which  the  beautiful  and  fertile 
plain  of  Esdraelon,  or  Jezreel,  as  it  strikes  eastward,  is  di¬ 
vided  by  Mounts  Gilboa  and  Little  Hermon.  Half  an  hour 
brought  us  to  a  watercourse,  now  full  and  broad,  bordered 
on  each  side  by  a  deep  quagmire  of  reddish-brown  loam, 
that  was  beaten  into  an  uncertain  mass  of  semi-liquid  mud. 
A  mounted  Arab  from  the  north  warned  us  of  the  great 
difficulty  of  getting  through.  We  found  him  a  truthful 
Arab.  One  by  one  we  floundered  along,  our  horses  sank, 
and  one  by  one  we  plunged  in  and  waded  through.  Some 
of  us  dismounted  before  reaching  the  stream,  but  I  kept  my 
saddle  till  we  reached  the  farther  side,  and  then  my  horse 
sank  so  deep  that  I  was  forced  to  come  down.  We  came 
forth  well  smeared  with  the  richest  soil  of  Palestine,  of 
which  it  took  some  time  and  pains  so  far  to  clear  ourselves 
as  to  ride  on  our  way.  Three-fourths  of  an  hour  were  thus 


470 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE 


added  to  the  usual  time  of  crossing  this  southern  branch  of 
Esdraelon.  Midway  to  Zerin  there  lay  in  sight,  on  the  left, 
the  hill-spur  of  Ta‘annuk  (Taanach),  a  great  stronghold  of 
the  Canaanite  in  resisting  Joshua,  and  afterward  (in  con¬ 
junction  with  Megiddo)  head-cpiarters  of  Sisera,  in  the  con¬ 
test  with  Barak.  Four  miles  farther  north,  also  on  the  left, 
and  nearly  due  west  of  Jezreel,  lay  the  site  of  Megiddo 
(Lejjnn),  where  the  good  Josiali  fought  the  Egyptians  and 


MAP  OF  THE  TALLEY  OF  ESDRAELON. 


received  his  death  wound  ;3  and  as  we  held  on  our  way,  we 
must  have  been  on  the  road  by  which  Aliaziali  fled,  to  be 
overtaken  and  killed.4  Passing  by  the  western  extremity  of 
Mount  Gilboa,  we  rose  upon  a  hillock  occupied  by  a  few 
low  huts,  but  in  its  name,  Zerin,  representing  the  name  and 
site  of  the  old  Jezreel,  the  place  of  Allah’s  palace,  Naboth’s 
vineyard,  Jehu's  onset,  and  Jezebel’s  destruction.  The  starv¬ 
ing  do^s  of  the  village  are  still  numerous  enoucrh  to  devour 
Jezebel  in  a  single  night.  But  not  a  vestige  of  the  ancient 


3  2  Chron.  xxxv. 


4  2  Kings  ix.  27. 


THROUGH  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  PALESTINE.  477 


glory  can  be  seen  here — unless  we  except  some  broken  sar¬ 
cophagi,  sculptured  with  the  crescents  that  symbolized  the 
Zidonian  goddess  Ashtaroth,  and  two  that  were  whole,  one 
of  them  now  used  as  a  horse-trough.  In  the  rubbish-heaps 
covered  by  the  modern  hovels,  there  may  or  may  not  be 
vestiges  of  the  ancient  palatial  glory  of  the  place.  We  rode 
by  numerous  reservoirs  with  well-like  openings,  said  to  be 
modern  excavations  for  grain. 

From  the  dirty  village  we  went  down  the  liill-side  easter¬ 
ly,  to  look  upon  the  fountain,  a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  “  the 
well  of  Harod,”  of  Gideon’s  adventure,5  and  the  “  fountain 
of  Jezreel,”  the  scene  of  Saul’s  last  encampment.6  Ordina¬ 
rily  a  trickling  rivulet  with  a  limpid  pool  of  forty  feet  diam¬ 
eter,  it  was  now  a  considerable  body  of  water,  with  a  siza¬ 
ble  stream  issuing  from  it.  It  lies  just  at  the  northern  base 
of  Mount  Gilboa,  up  which  Saul’s  troops  were  driven  and 
defeated.  Directly  in  front,  across  the  valley,  three  miles 
north,  on  the  southern  declivity  of  Little  Hermon,  and  in 
full  sight,  lay  Sliunem,  where  the  Philistine  army  was  en¬ 
camped  before  the  battle  ;7  while  out  of  sight  round  the 
shoulder  of  the  same  eminence,  and  six  miles  away  from 
his  camp,  lay  Endor,  still  bearing  the  ancient  name,  to  which 
Saul  stole  away  across  the  plain,  and  in  the  face  of  the  ene¬ 
my,  on  the  night  before  the  battle.  It  is  a  place  now  of 
mud-built  hovels  and  inhabited  caves,  fit  homes  for  witches. 
Two  miles  down  the  valley,  south-easterly,  along  the  course 
of  the  stream  that  flows  from  Jezreel,  lies  Beisan,  the  strong¬ 
hold  of  Bethshan,  where  Saul’s  headless  body  was  fastened 
to  the  walls,  and  his  armor  deposited  in  the  house  of  the 
same  goddess  Ashtaroth,8  whose  svmbol  is  to  be  seen  on  the 
sarcophagi  at  Zerin. 


5  Judg.  viii.  1,  etc. 

7  1  Sam.  xxviii.  4. 


6  1  Sam.  xxix. 

8  1  Sam.  xxxi.  10. 


478 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


As  we  approached  Shunem  ( Solam ),  situated  on  the  north 
of  the  middle  branch  of  the  Esdraelon,  and  upon  the  south¬ 
ern  slope  of  Little  Hermon,  we  must  have  passed  the  region 
where  the  Shunamite’s  child  received  his  fatal  sunstroke, 
and  crossed  the  track  over  which  the  resolute  and  silent 
woman,  his  mother,  rode  forth  to  Carmel,  to  seek  and  re¬ 
turn  with  the  great  prophet.  It  was  hard  to  bring  up  the 
ancient  vision.  After  taking  our  lunch  near  a  dilapidated 
hedge  of  prickly-pear,  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  this  little 
'forlorn  village,  we  crossed  the  ridge  and  turned  easterly  to 
visit  Nain  ( Nein ).  But  before  we  turned,  our  attention  was 
called  to  the  little  village  of  Fuleli,  perhaps  a  mile  to  our 
left,  where  once  was  a  fortress  that  Saladin  took  from  the 
Hospitallers  and  Templars,  and  where  Kleber  and  Bona¬ 
parte  defeated  a  Turkish  force  ten  times  their  number. 
Somewhere  south-west,  within  the  range  of  vision,  must 
have  been  the  camp  of  Nebuchadnezzar’s  great  army,  where 
Judith  cut  off  the  head  of  Holofernes;  and  almost  directly 
in  front,  a  little  to  the  right,  lay  that  region  into  which  Ves¬ 
pasian’s  general,  Placidns,  decoyed  the  Jews  from  the  top 
of  Mount  Tabor,  to  slaughter  them  along  the  plain.  Well 
might  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  be  fertile,  for  it  has 
drank  the  blood  of  the  Midianite,  the  Philistine,  the  Jew, 
the  Roman,  the  Babylonian,  the  Egyptian,  the  Frenchman, 
the  Englishman,  the  Saracen,  and  the  Turk.  It  is  a  singular 
group  to  summon  up  to  the  imagination — Gideon,  Saul  and 
Jonathan,  Deborah,  Barak  and  Sisera,  Ahab,  Jezebel,  Jehu, 
Josiali,  Omri  and  Azariah,  Holofernes  and  Judith,  Vespa¬ 
sian  and  Josephus,  Saladin  and  the  Knights  Templar,  Bo¬ 
naparte  and  Kleber  —  to  say  nothing  of  the  great  armed 
hosts  that  have  marched  across  the  celebrated  plain.  They 
would  seem  to  have  left  their  ban  upon  the  fertile  soil,  for 
not  one-fourtli  of  this  plain  is  now  under  cultivation. 


THROUGH  THE  BATTLE-FIELDS  OF  PALESTINE.  479 


It  was  a  great  transition  for  the  thoughts,  when  we  turned 
away  from  this  scene  of  slaughter  to  the  little  village  where 
the  dead  man  heard  the  Saviour’s  voice,  and  the  only  son 
was  given  back  to  his  widowed  mother.  Here  we  rode  by 
a  mound,  some  ruins,  a  few  low  flat  houses  of  mud  and 
stone,  to  look  upon  the  numerous  old  tombs  cut  in  the  rocky 
hill-side  back  of  the  hamlet,  whither,  perhaps,  that  funeral 
procession  was  moving  when  Christ  touched  the  bier. 

An  hour  from  Nain  brought  us  across  the  third  arm  of 
the  great  plain  to  the  foot  of  the  abrupt  line  of  hills  in 
which  lay  Nazareth.  Here  we  entered,  by  the  mouth  of  a 
wady,  directly  into  the  hill  region,  and  followed  a  long 
winding  way  for  about  an  hour  up  and  down,  but  on  the 
whole  climbing  upward,  till  we  emerged  into  the  side  of  a 
valley  or  basin  about  a  mile  in  length  and  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  wide,  running  from  the  north-east  to  the  south-west. 

In  this  little  basin,  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  sea- 
level,  and  nearly  half  that  height  above  the  plain,  carefully 
secluded  from  the  outer  world,  lay  before  us  the  town  of 
Nazareth.  It  is  spread  along  the  lower  slope  and  in  the  ra¬ 
vines  of  the  western  hill,  which  rises  five  hundred  feet  above 
the  valley,  crowned  with  a  Mohammedan  wely.  Central  in 
the  thick  cluster  of  white  limestone  houses  is  the  spacious 
Franciscan  convent,  and  above  it,  on  the  hill-side,  the  tall 
minaret  of  a  mosque.  Down  below,  in  the  centre  of  the 
basin,  are  grain-fields,  gardens,  and  olive-trees,  and  beyond 
them,  on  the  north-eastern  outskirt  of  the  village,  is  the  an¬ 
cient  fountain  of  the  place,  the  “Fountain  of  the  Virgin.” 

As  our  tents  were  somewhere  far  behind  us,  we  made  di¬ 
rectly  for  the  convent.  We  were  hospitably  received.  Our 
day’s  ride  had  been  through  numerous  heavy  showers;  but 
next  morning  we  awoke  well  rested  and  refreshed  from  the 
hardest  week  of  exposure  we  had  ever  experienced. 


4-80 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FROM  NAZARETH  TO  GENNESARET. 

Sunday  morning  opened  bright  and  clear  upon  the  place 
that  was  unknown  to  history  till  it  became  the  home  of 
Christ,  but  which  is  destined  now  never  to  be  forgotten. 
Just  as  breakfast  was  over,  a  sound  of  singing  brought  us 
to  the  door.  A  procession  of  men  and  boys,  with  green 
branches  in  their  hands,  were  moving  to  the  Latin  church. 
It  was  Palm  Sunday. 

The  satisfaction  of  the  traveller  at  Nazareth  comes  from 
the  presence  of  those  natural  objects  and  scenes  which  alone 
remain  unchanged.  It  is  an  intense  satisfaction  to  feel  as¬ 
sured  that  for  a  long  course  of  years — from  childhood  to  ma¬ 
ture  manhood — the  Saviour’s  feet  travelled  over  this  whole 
region,  that  his  eyes  rested  upon  the  same  hill  and  valley, 
and  that  in  all  probability  his  mother  brought  water  from 
the  same  village  spring  that  is  now  thronged  by  girls  and 
women  with  pitchers  poised  upon  their  heads.  “  The  old 
town,”  as  Tobler  well  says,  “has,  so  to  speak,  disappeared 
without  a  vestige.”  Its  antiquities  would  seem  to  be  mostly 
modern.  The  Franciscan  monks,  under  whose  charge  the 
sacred  places  have  developed,  did  not  get  their  foothold 
till  the  year  in  which  the  “  Pilgrims  ”  landed  at  Plymouth. 
The  limestone  of  which  the  place  is  built  is  a  decaying 
stone.  The  place  was  long  unvisited  by  pilgrims  and  unoc¬ 
cupied  by  Christians,  and  we  can  for  a  thousand  years  his¬ 
torically  follow  the  vicissitudes  of  the  place,  by  which  every 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  GENNESARE1 


481 


trace  of  its  former  condition  must  have  perished.  In  the 
tenth  century  the  Saracens  destroyed  it  and  laid  it  in  ruins. 
In  the  year  1183  it  seems  to  have  been  again  taken  and 


MAP  OF  THE  VALLEY  OF  NAZARETn. 

A.  Valley,  about  two  miles  long;  B.  One  mile  long;  C.  Hills  with  a  wely.  1.  Wide  part  of 
the  valley ;  2.  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  ;  3.  Chapel  of  Annunciation  ;  4.  Entrance  from  west ; 
5.  Usual  camping-place ;  6.  Limestone  spur ;  7.  Entrance  from  south ;  8.  Artificial  caves ; 
9.  Hedges  of  cacti. 

plundered,  desolated  and  burned.  In  the  next  century  the 
Sultan  Bibars  destroyed  it.  In  the  sixteenth  century  Selim 
I.  reduced  it  to  the  verge  of  destruction.  In  1630  it  was 

31 


482 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


wholly  destroyed.  Its  first  appearance  before  us,  in  the 
fourth  century,  was  as  a  village,  later  as  a  town,  and  again 
in  the  eighth  century  a  village;  and  after  the  varied  and 
ruinous  subsequent  experiences  which  have  been  mentioned, 
it  contained,  in  1621,  thirty  well-built  stone  houses;  a  little 
later,  two  hundred  dwellings ;  and  soon  again  its  houses 
were  mostly  excavations  in  the  side  of  the  hill.  At  one 
time  there  were  eighty  dwellings,  consisting  chiefly  of  holes, 
natural  or  artificial,  in  the  rocks;  and  as  late  as  1756  there 
were  but  a  hundred  houses,  poor  and  dilapidated.  The  pop¬ 
ulation  is  now  six  or  seven  thousand.1 

The  only  marks  of  antiquity  that  Tobler  mentions  are  a 
sarcophagus,  apparently  of  Jewish  times,  some  rock -tombs, 
and  rock-cisterns.  All  the  buildings  about  the  fountains  are 
quite  modern.  A  church  in  Nazareth  is  indeed  mentioned 
by  Antoninus  of  Placentia.2  About  the  year  570,  and  a 
hundred  vears  later,  according  to  Arculf,3  there  were  two 
churches,  one  of  them  over  the  site  of  Mary’s  house,  al¬ 
though  that  house  appears  to  have  been  miraculously  re¬ 
moved  to  Loretto  not  till  some  centuries  later.  The  other 
church,  according  to  Willibald4  (a.d.  728),  was  over  the  place 
of  the  Annunciation.  But  these  must  have  been  thoroughly 
demolished  when  the  Crusaders  took  possession.5  The  place, 
moreover,  until  the  time  of  Constantine — that  is,  for  the  first 
three  centuries — was  occupied,  according  to  Epiphanius  of 
the  fourth  century,  only  by  Jews.6  All  valid  connection  be¬ 
tween  the  alleged  sacred  places  and  the  transactions  of  the 


1  Tobler’s  Nazareth,  pp.  36-50.  2  Sepp’s  Jerusalem,  ii.  7 5. 

3  Arculf,  in  Bohn’s  Early  Travels  in  Palestine,  p.  9. 

4  Willibald,  in  Bohn’s  Early  Travels  in  Palestine,  p.  16. 

5  Sepp  advances  an  alleged  quotation  from  Eusebius  to  show  that  these 
churches  existed  in  his  day.  But  he  does  not  give  the  reference,  and  Tobler 
says  it  is  a  riddle  to  him  how  Sepp  found  the  passage. 

6  Epipli.  Adv.  Hgeres.  i.  128,  quoted  by  Robinson,  iii.  196. 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  GENNESARET. 


4S3 


Gospel  history,  is  doubly  sundered  by  the  late  date  of  the 
earliest  Christian  occupancy  and  of  the  first  historic  allu¬ 
sions,  as  well  as  by  the  numerous  and  complete  destructions 


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since.  There  are  even  two  churches  “of  the  Annuncia¬ 
tion:”  the  Latin  one,  in  the  convent;  the  Greek  one,  over 
the  fountain. 


484 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


I  chose  therefore  to  give  myself  up  chiefly  to  the  influence 
of  the  natural  scenery  with  which  the  Saviour  must  for 
some  thirty  years  have  been  so  conversant.  Ascending  from 
the  valley  surrounded  by  its  fourteen  rounded  eminences,  I 
sought  the  highest  hill-top  on  the  west.  Here  is  one  of  the 
finest  views  in  Palestine.  The  eye  rested  on  the  still  snowy 
peak  of  Ilermon  northward,  Mount  Carmel  and  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  Sea  on  the  west,  and  the  heights  of  Moab  beyond 
the  Jordan:  a  noble  panorama,  within  which  lay  Gilboa, 
Tabor,  Little  Hermon,  and  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the 
rounded  heights  being  well  shaded  with  forests,  and  the  val- 
leys  now  bright  with  rich  verdure;  while  visible  in  various 
directions  are  the  historic  sites,  Nain,  Cana,  Megiddo,  Taa- 
nach,  Endor,  Jezreel.  After  a  long  and  delightful  view  of 
this  attractive  scene,  on  the  way  down  the  mountain  we 
looked  for  some  precipice  that  might  have  answered  the  de¬ 
sign  of  the  Saviour’s  townsmen  to  hurl  him  down  headlong. 
We  were  unsuccessful  at  the  time,  although  we  saw  many 
steep  and  precipitous  places.  But  the  next  day,  by  the  aid 
of  Mr.  Zeller,  the  excellent  missionary,  with  whose  family 
we  spent  a  delightful  evening,  we  found  in  the  rear  of  the 
Maronite  church  the  precipice,  still  forty  or  fifty  feet  high, 
which  Bobinson,  Tobler,  Hackett,  and  others  well  regard  as 
perhaps  more  probable  than  any  other.  The  traditional 
Mount  of  Precipitation  is  two  miles  away  from  the  town, 
and  from  the  fountain  which  must  always  have  determined 
the  site  of  the  town.  An  anger  so  hot  as  to  attempt  his 
violent  death,  and  so  cool  as  to  travel  two  miles  for  a  good 
place  for  the  assassination,  may  not  tax  the  credulity  of  a 
monk,  but  is  difficult  for  an  Anglo-Saxon  to  accept. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin,  under 
the  altar  of  the  Greek  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  where 
we  drank  of  the  water.  It  flows  thence  and  fills  a  large 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  GENNE8ARET. 


485 


reservoir  at  some  distance  below,  from  which  it  pours  forth 
abundantly.  Around  the  reservoir  we  encountered  a  large 
number  of  women  and  girls,  coming  and  going  with  jugs 
and  pitchers  on  their  heads,  just  as  it  has  been,  no  doubt,  at 
this  one  village  fountain  from  the  time  of  Mary.  One  al¬ 
most  never  sees  a  man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water;  so  that 
Christ’s  assurance,  “  There  shall  a  man  meet  you  bearing  a 
pitcher  of  water,”  was  a  somewhat  definite  token. 

From  these  natural  objects  it  was  a  necessity  to  go  the 
rounds  of  the  fictitious  places — e.  y.,  the  house  and  workshop 
of  Joseph,  the  place  in  which  Christ  ate  with  his  disciples 
(where  a  huge  rock  rises  in  the  middle  of  the  room),  and 
the  synagogue  where  he  taught.  In  the  Convent  church  wTe 
were  shown  the  grotto  of  the  Annunciation,  and,  back  of  it, 
a  series  of  chambers  in  the  rock,  one  of  them  being  Mary’s 
kitchen,  and  a  room  having  a  door,  now  walled  up,  through 
which  she  was  wont  to  go  when  she  visited  the  fountain. 
The  women  whom  we  saw  praying  in  the  church  evidently 
had  no  shadow  of  a  doubt  concerning  the  places  and  their 
extraordinary  virtues.  For  me  it  was  enough,  and  more  than 
enough — more  than  I  had  ever  supposed  to  be  possible — 
that  I  was  wandering  and  gazing  about  upon  places  and 
scenes  where  the  Saviour  and  his  mother  lived  and  moved 
familiarly  for  years  together.  And  I  could  not  but  feel 
how  fitting  was  his  early  home  in  what  must  then  have  been 
an  industrious  and  thrifty  town,  secluded  in  a  fertile  and 
beautiful  valley,  nestled  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountains,  and 
encompassed  by  the  most  inspiring  scenery  of  the  chosen 
land.  Here  he  lived  near  thirty  years  in  communion  with 
man  and  nature  and  God. 

Next  morning  (March  29th)  we  had  time  to  make  other 
excursions,  and  ramble  about  the  place  before  our  tardy  de¬ 
parture.  As  we  rode  out  of  town,  we  passed  again  by  the 


486 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


fountain,  and  saw  at  least  twenty  girls,  with  their  vessels, 
going  and  coming.  We  climbed  the  north-eastern  hill,  look- 
ing  back  continually  to  photograph  the  sacred  village — the 
once  happy  valley — on  our  memories,  till  it  disappeared  from 
our  sight.  An  hour  and  a  half  of  Ascending  and  descend- 
ing  brought  us  to  Kefr  Kenna,  which  a  large  number  of  in- 
telligent  scholars  still  regard  as  the  Cana  of  the  wedding, 
and  for  which  much  may  be  said.  Undoubtedly  the  bridle¬ 
path  we  were  following  was  substantially  the  same  way  that 
the  Saviour  travelled  from  Nazareth  to  Capernaum.  At  the 
village  of  Eeineh,  about  midway  between  Nazareth  and 
Kefr  Kenna.  some  women  were  using  as  a  wash-tub  an  old 
sculptured  sarcophagus,  of  which  the  ancient  and  perhaps 
distinguished  occupant  little  foresaw  his  own  summary  eject¬ 
ment.  (Here  Lieutenant  Conder  would  find  Cana.) 

In  riding  through  the  little  old  village,  Kefr  Kenna,  we 
saw  the  house  where  “the  wedding”  took  place,  which  was 
naturally  close  by  a  Catholic  chapel;  but  the  stone  “water- 
pots  ”  of  that  occasion  we  did  not  search  out,  although  they 
are  on  exhibition.  The  vicinity  was  well  filled  with  fruit- 
trees,  comprising  some  venerable  olives — and  indeed  the 
whole  ride  thence  was  through  a  region  of  great  fertility. 
Yet  we  passed  but  one  village  (Lubieh)  between  Kefr  Kenna 
and  Tiberias.  One  could  not  but  think,  as  he  rode  along, 
of  the  almost  incredible  statements  of  Josephus  that  Galilee 
in  his  time  contained  two  hundred  and  four  cities  and  vil¬ 
lages;  and  again,  that  numerous  cities  and  a  multitude  of 
villages  everywhere  here  are  so  populous,  by  reason  of  the 
richness  of  the  soil,  that  the  least  of  them  contains  about  fif¬ 
teen  thousand  inhabitants.7  At  present  Nazareth  shows  but 
about  seven  thousand  people,  and  Tiberias  two  thousand. 


7  Life,  section  45 ;  Wars  of  the  Jews,  iii.  3,  2. 


NAZARETH 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  GENNESARET. 


489 


Still  we  could  not  forget  the  fact  that  the  present  popula¬ 
tion,  not  only  of  Palestine  but  of  all  Syria,  is  little  more 
than  two-thirds  the  number  that  in  the  time  of  Titus  as¬ 
sembled  in  Jerusalem  to  the  paschal  feast,  and  less  than 
twice  the  number  that  perished  in  the  siege  of  the  Holy 
City.8 

We  halted  to  lunch  on  the  edge  of  a  slight  eminence 
skirting  the  plain  along  which  our  road  lay,  and  around  us 
were  numerous  traces  of  former  dwellings,  and  particularly 
reservoirs  cut  in  the  rock.  Amon^  other  things  we  saw  an 
oil-press  and  a  wine-press,  although  now  not  a  vine  was  to 
be  seen  for  miles  around.  The  wine-press  was  an  oblong 
excavation  in  the  rock,  connected  by  a  little  channel  with  a 
circular  basin  on  a  lower  level.  If  we  were  to  accept  the 
account  of  Josephus  as  not  an  utterly  baseless  exaggeration, 
this  region,  now  so  desolate,  must  have  been  once  a  continu¬ 
ous  town,  or  at  least  a  great  cluster  of  villages.  And  there 
is  no  good  reason  why  it  might  not  have  been  so.  It  is  ca¬ 
pable  of  supporting  a  large  population,  in  the  simple  life  of 
those  days. 

Hiding  by  the  foot  of  Hattin,  over  the  place  where,  seven 
hundred  years  ago,  Saladin  annihilated  the  Crusaders’  power 
in  Palestine,  we  at  length  reached  a  ridge  where  we  looked 
out  on  the  distant  hills  of  Bashan,  and  down  far  below  us 
upon  a  dark  blue  pear  or  harp  shaped  sheet  of  water,  lying 
snugly  in  a  deep  enclosure  of  high  brown  hills.  Though 
less  than  thirteen  miles  long  and  seven  miles  broad,  yet, 
measured  by  the  events  it  has  witnessed,  it  is  a  kind  of  Pa¬ 
cific  Ocean.  It  was  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  As  we  moved  over 
the  long  way  downward  to  its  level — six  hundred  and  fifty 

8  Murray’s  Handbook  gives  the  present  population  of  Syria  at  1,900,000. 
Josephus  (Wars,  vi.  9,  3)  says  that  2,700,000  were  present  at  one  Passover,  and 
1,100,000  perished  in  the  siege. 


490 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


feet  below  the  Mediterranean  Sea — we  had  time  to  grasp 
and  fix  its  whole  aspect  and  surroundings.  It  lacks  bold¬ 
ness  of  outline,  for  its  hills  slope  gradually  back  from  the 
shore,  or  leave  a  narrow  plain,  as  at  Gennesaret  and  Butiha. 
But  the  lights  and  shadows  lie  sweetly  on  the  hill-sides  at 
night  and  morning;  the  northern  end  is  broken  into  pleas¬ 
ant  little  bays,  and  Hermon  looms  grandly  up  beyond,  far 
off,  yet  seemingly  near.  The  whole  aspect  of  the  lake  is 
one  that  suggests  the  thought  and  the  lack  of  beautiful 

oo  o 

homes. 


KEFR  KENNA,  SEEN  IN  THE  DISTANCE. 


It  wras  still  a  long  ride  to  the  lake.  The  region  we 
were  passing,  once  brimful  of  life  and  activity,  was  utterly 
forsaken  now.  The  entire  lake  lay  spread  before  us,  and 
nearly  the  whole  of  its  coast-line,  along  or  near  which  once 
lay  the  cities  Tarichea,  Tiberias,  Hippo,  Gamala,  Gergesa, 
Bethsaida,  Chorazin,  Capernaum,  Magdala,  and  Beth  Arbeb 
Of  these  cities  Tiberias  once  had  its  senate  of  six  hundred  ;9 


9  Josephus,  "Wars,  xxi.  2,  9 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  GENNESARET. 


491 


Gamala  was  able  to  resist  and  defeat  Vespasian  at  the  head 
of  three  legions,  and  when  captured  by  Vespasian  and  Titus 
it  lost  four  thousand  in  the  fight,  and  five  thousand  who 
hurled  themselves  or  were  pushed  down  the  precipices  ;10 
while  Tariehea,  according  to  Josephus,  was  able  at  one  time 
to  furnish  sixteen  thousand  and  five  hundred  for  slaughter 
in  a  sea-fight  with  the  Romans,  twelve  hundred  slain  in  cold 
blood  in  the  stadium,  six  thousand  captive  youth  to  dig  for 
Nero  in  the  Isthmus,  and  thirty  thousand  four  hundred  to 
be  sold  into  slavery.11  The  only  existing  visible  representa¬ 
tives  of  all  this  strength  and  activity  were  the  wretched  lit¬ 
tle  cluster  of  huts  called  Mejdel  (Magdala),  and  the  shrunken 
Tiberias,  with  its  two  thousand  inhabitants.  From  our  path 
not  a  vestige  of  the  other  places  could  be  discerned. 

It  was  near  sunset  when  we  entered  Tiberias.  We  fol¬ 
lowed  the  road  through  the  gate,  but  could  easily  have 
passed  through  the  rents  in  the  walls.  The  now  squalid 
city,  mentioned  but  once  in  the  New  Testament,12  has  been 
a  chief  home  of  Jewish  learning  since  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  Here  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  was  completed, 
and  here  is  now  what  may  be  called  the  present  theologi¬ 
cal  school  of  the  Jews.  As  we  wound  about  through  the 
Jewish  quarter  of  the  town,  we  saw  the  occupants  busily 
engaged  in  whitewashing  their  houses  within,  in  prepara¬ 
tion,  perhaps,  for  the  Passover,  which  was  just  at  hand. 
Our  tents  not  having  arrived,  we  first  sought  the  Latin  C011- 
vent,  but  its  occupants  had  gone  to  the  Easter  festival  at 
Jerusalem.  At  length  we  found  shelter  in  a  khan  belong- 
ing,  as  we  were  told,  to  a  Jew.  Its  one  large  public  room, 
which  we  had  to  ourselves,  massively  built  of  stone  through¬ 
out,  walls,  floor,  and  ceiling,  was  dark  and  strong  enough 


10  Josephus,  Wars,  iv.  1,  4-10. 


11  lb.  iii.  10,  10. 


12  John  vi.  23. 


492 


•  FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


for  a  prison.  Just  inside  the  door  was  a  stone  water-pot, 
“holding  two  or  three  firkins.”  That  night  and  the  next 
morning  we  had  on  our  table  some  small  red  fish  from  the 
neighboring  lake.  They  were  good  enough  to  the  taste,  but 
the  effects  upon  two  of  ns  made  us  suspect  that  they  were 
taken  by  the  lazy  method  which  Tristram  witnessed,13  of 
throwing  poisoned  bread-crumbs  upon  the  water.  Though 
Tiberias  is  proverbially  the  place  where  “  the  king  of  fleas 
holds  his  court,”  it  was  our  singular  good  fortune  to  en¬ 
counter  neither  the  monarch  nor  any  of  his  subjects  here 
or  elsewhere,  except  in  a  subsequent  and  memorable  expe¬ 
rience  at  Kefr  Men  da. 


13  Tristram’s  Land  of  Israel,  p.  429. 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


493 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

The  next  morning  (March  31st)  we  engaged  a  boat  to 
make  an  excursion  over  the  lake.  Perhaps  I  should  say  the 
boat,  for  I  saw  no  other  except  one  that  lay,  dismantled  and 
useless,  southward  upon  the  shore.  And  yet  this  was  the 
lake  on  which  Josephus  once  collected  a  fleet  of  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty  boats  at  Tarichea  for  an  attack  on  Tiberias.1 
The  modern  destitution  is  ascribed  by  Macgregor  to  “  the 
absurdly  prohibitory  tax  upon  boats.”  Six  swarthy  Arabs 
pulled  our  oars  as  we  headed  north.  The  sun  shone  out 
cloudlessly,  and  the  waters  glistened  like  silver,  and  again 
and  again  the  fish  leaped  out  as  we  glided  along.  Once  or 
twice  the  surface  of  the  water  was  black  with  their  backs, 
although  a  large  part  were,  as  of  old,  such  as  the  fishermen 
“cast  away.”  Tristram  saw  even  greater  multitudes:  “Mar¬ 
vellous  shoals,  black  masses  of  many  hundred  yards  long, 
with  the  black  fins  projecting  out  of  the  water  as  thickly  as 
they  could  be  packed :  the  lake  swarms  with  fish  as  I  could 
not  have  believed  water  could  swarm.”2  “Xear  Ain  Tabi- 
gah,”  says  Mr.  Macgregor,  “  I  paddled  along  the  curved  line 
of  fishes’  backs  and  flashing  tails.  Dense  shoals  moved  in 
brigades,  as  if  by  concert  or  command.”3  Captain  Wilson 
speaks  of  the  “  dense  masses  that  blacken  the  water,”  so 
thick  that  three  were  killed  by  one  shot  from  a  revolver.4 


1  Wars,  ii.  21,  81. 

3  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  p.  337. 


2  Land  of  Israel,  p.  113. 

4  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  266. 


494 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


About  two  miles  north  of  Tiberias  we  were  opposite  the 
ruins  at  Wady  Semakh,  on  the  eastern  shore,  that  are  now 
called  by  the  Arabs  Kersa,  or  Gliersa,  no  doubt  representing 
the  ancient  Gergesa.  TJie  name  was  first  recovered,  I  be¬ 
lieve,  by  our  countryman,  Mr.  Thomson.  The  stream,  or 
creek,  sixty  feet  wide  at  its  mouth,  extends  up  half  a  mile 
or  less  to  where  the  plain  gives  way  to  the  hills,  and  begins 
at  the  foot  of  the  deep  gorge.  Some  rubble  masonry  and 
a  few  cut  stones  lie  beneath  the  water  near  the  mouth  of 
the  river;  and  on  the  south  bank,  near  the  junction  of  the 
plain  with  the  hills,  are  the  remains  of  an  enclosing  wall 
three  feet  thick  ;  and  within  them,  among  other  ruins,  those 
of  a  large  rectangular  building  lying  east  and  west,  perhaps 
a  khan.  A  thick  jungle  of  canes,  many  of  them  thirty  feet 
high,  here  lines  the  banks.  But  the  chief  interest  in  the 
place  centres  in  the  region  about  a  mile  south,  which,  hav¬ 
ing  been  examined  by  Thomson,  Captain  Wilson,  Mac- 
gregor,  and  more  casually  by  Tristram,  is  now  conceded  to 
be  the  place  where  the  herd  of  swine  ran  down  into  the  sea. 
Here,  in  the  words  of  Captain  Wilson,  “the  hills,  which 
everywhere  else  on  the  east  side  are  recessed  from  a  half  to 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  water’s  edge,  approach 
within  forty  feet  of  it :  they  do  not  terminate  abruptly,  but 
there  is  a  steep  even  slope  which  we  would  identify  with 
the  ‘steep  place.'”5  Mr.  Thomson  also  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  it  is  not  “  a  precipice  on  the  edge  of  the  sea,  but 
that  there  is  a  narrow  shelf  between  the  base  of  the  moun¬ 
tain  and  the  sea,  on  which  there  was  neither  time  nor  space 
for  the  herd  to  recover  themselves.”6  But  MacGregor,  who 
spent  some  hours  at  the  place,  gives  the  additional  statement 
that  this  short  plain  or  shelf  is  fringed  with  oleanders,  be- 


5  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  287. 


6  The  Land  and  the  Book,  ii.  p.  36. 


TIBERIAS  AND  RAKE,  LOOKING  NORTH-EAST. 


498 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


down  upon  the  water.10  As  we  headed  for  Tell  Hum,  we 
undoubtedly  somewhere  crossed  the  track  where  the  disci¬ 
ples  toiled  in  rowing  all  that  boisterous  night;  and  when  we 
hauled  up  on  the  western  shore,  it  could  not  have  been  very 
far  from  the  place  where  Christ  sat  in  the  ship  and  taught 
the  multitude  on  the  shore.  Around  us  lay  spread  out  the 
varied  and  fertile  scenery  from  which,  on  that  occasion,  he 
drew  the  materials  for  that  wonderful  series  of  parables,  il¬ 
lustrating  the  various  aspects  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
namely,  the  wheat  and  the  tares ,  the  growing  grain ,  the 
mustard-seed  and  its  tall  growth ,  the  meal  and  the  leaven . 
the  treasure  hid  in  the  field,  the  net  full  of  fishes,  and,  by 
suggestion,  the  jpearl  of  great  price.  It  is  a  group  of  illus¬ 
trations  which,  I  have  often  thought,  for  felicity,  variety, 
depth,  and  popular  impression,  might  well  be  singled  out, 
did  it  rise  no  higher,  as  one  of  the  transcendent  effusions  of 
human  genius.  But  it  is  the  utterance,  also,  of  the  heavenly 
wisdom. 

It  was  but  a  few  steps  from  the  shore,  fringed  with  olean¬ 
ders,  to  Tell  Hum,  a  heap  of  ruins  almost  hidden  by  rank 
weeds.  Through  a  space  extending  half  a  mile  in  length 
by  a  fourth  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  we  walked  and  stumbled 
over  foundations  and  fallen  walls  of  ancient  honses.  We 
also  spent  some  time  in  studying  out  the  ruins  of  the  “White 
Synagogue,”  which  Captain  Wilson  rather  enthusiastically 
considers  to  be,  “  without  a  doubt,  the  synagogue  built  by 
the  Roman  centurion,”  if  indeed  this  be  the  site  of  Caper¬ 
naum.  It  was  a  building  of  some  seventy-five  feet  by  fifty- 
six.  And  though  it  has  been  mostly  demolished,  there  still 
remain  Corinthian  capitals,  pedestals,  double  columns,  and 
other  large  stones,  to  testify  of  a  once  showy  building.  One 

10  Thomson’s  Land  and  the  Book,  ii.  59 ;  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  pp.  408, 
409  ;  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  265. 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 


499 


broken  column  formed  the  door-post  and  another  supported 
the  roof  of  a  neighboring  shanty,  a  little  higher  than  one’s 
head,  that  had  been  occupied  jointly  by  an  Arab  and  his 
cattle  as  a  house  and  a  stable.  Whether  this  place  were  or 
were  not  Capernaum,  beyond  a  question  the  Saviour  must 
have  often  walked  through  these  now  obliterated  streets. 

Still,  after  all  that  has  been  said  both  for  and  against,  I 
strongly  incline  to  accept  this  place  as  the  site  of  Caperna¬ 
um.  Recent  discoveries  have  cast  some  light  upon  the  ques¬ 
tion,  removing  objections  and  offering  additional  arguments. 
Robinson  and  Sepp  strongly  and  ably  argue  against  it  on 
historical  and  traditional  grounds.  Mr.  Porter  accepts  the 
result,  and  Macgregor  conies  to  their  help  with  nautical  con¬ 
siderations.11  They  agree  upon  Khan  Minyeli.  De  Saulcy 
and  Tristram  fix  upon  Ain  Mudawarah,  yet  farther  south.12 
Ritter,  Dr.  Wilson,  Thomson,  Captain  Wilson,  Delitzsch,  and 
others,  decide  for  Tell  Hum.13  The  considerations  which 
seem  strongly  to  favor  Tell  Hum  are  :  (1.)  Its  comparative 
vicinity  to  the  place  of  Josephus’s  hurt,  when  he  was  wound¬ 
ed  near  Julias,  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  on  which  occa¬ 
sion14  he  was  carried  first  to  Capharnaome,  and  removed  that 
night  to  Tarichoea,  probably  by  water.  As  a  point  much 
nearer  than  either  Khan  Minyeh  or  Ain  Mudawarah,  and 
as  a  place  certainly  of  some  size,  as  shown  by  the  ruins,  this 
is  much  more  likely  to  have  been  the  place  to  which  to  con- 

11  Robinson’s  Researches,  ii.  403, 404  ;  iii.  344,  358.  Sepp’s  Jerusalem,  ii.  173— 
183,  191 ;  Macgregor’s  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  pp.  362-387  ;  Murray’s  [Por¬ 
ter’s]  Guide  to  Palestine,  ii.  403-407 ;  also  Conder,  Tent  Work,  ii.  184, 190. 

12  De  Saulcy’s  Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte,  ii.  265  ;  Tristram’s  Land  of  Israel, 
pp.  444-448. 

13  Ritter’s  Geography  of  Palestine,  American  translation,  ii.  272-278  ;  Wil¬ 
son’s  Lands  of  the  Bible,  ii.  139-149;  Thomson’s  Land  and  the  Book,  ii.  8-10, 
29-31 ;  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  pp.  292-301 ;  Delitzsch’s  Ein  Tag  in  Caperna¬ 
um,  p.  26. 

14  Life  of  Josephus,  section  72. 


500 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


vey  a  wounded  man  for  medical  treatment.  (2.)  The  ex¬ 
tent  of  the  ruins,  which  here  are  far  the  most  considerable 
north  of  Tiberias.  There  is  little  to  be  found  at  Muda- 
warah,  and  nothing  of  importance  at  Khan  Minyeh.  “  The 
mounds  of  Khan  Minyeh,”  says  Captain  Wilson,  “cover 
an  extent  of  ground  small  in  comparison  with  either  those 
of  Tell  Hum  or  Kerazeh.  We  made  some  small  excava¬ 
tions  in  them,  but  did  not  succeed  in  finding  the  remains 
of  any  building  of  great  size.  The  walls  were  rudely 
built,  and  the  fragments  of  pottery  dug  up  appeared  to 
be  modern.  There  were  traces  of  a  thick  wall  surround¬ 
ing  the  site.  No  fragments  of  columns,  capitals,  or  carved 
stones  were  found  in  the  ruins,  nor  could  any  be  seen 
in  the  walls  of  the  khan,  or  round  the  tombs  close  by — 
a  fact  which  seems  to  indicate  that  the  ruins  are  of  mod¬ 
ern  date,  or  at  least  never  contained  any  buildings  such 
as  the  synagogues  or  churches  found  elsewhere,  as  in 
all  other  places  old  material  is  invariably  built  into  the 
walls  of  later  buildings  where  they  are  near  old  sites.”15 
But  not  only  are  the  ruins  at  Tell  Hum  extensive,  but  the 
White  Synagogue  is  the  ruin  of  the  finest  building  found  in 
Palestine.  “  It  was,”  says  Kobinson,  “  of  unusual  size  and 
magnificence,  surpassing  everything  else  of  the  kind  which 
we  saw  elsewhere.”16  It  corresponds,  as  Khan  Minyeh  does 
not,  to  the  vestiges  of  what  appears  to  have  been  the  chief 
city  on  the  northern  front  of  the  lake.  The  remains  of  an¬ 
other  building  found  here  might  answer  for  the  ruins  of  a 
church  mentioned  by  Antoninus.  (3.)  The  relative  situation 
of  Kerazeh,  which  is  regarded  by  Thomson  and  Captain 
Wilson,  with  no  little  reason,  as  Chorazin,  gives  additional 
strength  to  the  opinion.  Jerome  mentions  Chorazin  as  two 


15  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  273. 


16  Robinson’s  Researches,  iii.  346. 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


501 


miles  from  Capernaum,17  and  Willibald’s  journey  along  the 
lake  (about  721  to  727  a.d.)  makes  him  pass  northward  from 
Tiberias  through  Magdalum,  Capernaum,  Bethsaida  to  Cho- 
razin.18  Now,  just  about  two  or  two  and  a  half  miles  north 
of  Tell  Hum,  a  little  off  from  the  shore,  but  on  the  slope  of 
the  hill-side,  lies  the  mass  of  ruins  now  called  by  the  natives 
Kerazeh.  Captain  Wilson  reports19  the  ruins  as  covering 
“  an  area  as  large,  if  not  larger,  than  the  ruins  of  Caper¬ 
naum  ”  (Tell  Hum).  Here  are  relics  of  a  synagogue  with 
Corinthian  capitals,  niche -heads,  and  other  ornaments  cut 
in  hard  black  basalt ;  and  many  dwelling-houses,  with  walls 
still  six  feet  high.  Some  of  them  are  thirty  feet  square, 
with  columns  down  the  centre  to  support  the  roof,  and  walls 
two  feet  thick.  Here,  also,  are  traces  of  a  large  building 
with  remnants  of  Ionic  capitals,  and  traces  of  a  paved  road 
connecting  this  place  with  the  caravan  road  to  Damascus. 
This  apparent  identification  has  properly  much  weight  in 
the  case,  and  is  of  recent  origin.  (4.)  It  would  appear,  in 
connection  with  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  probable, 
though  not  certain,  that  the  Saviour  went  from  Capernaum 
by  boat,  and  was  certainly  understood  by  the  multitude  to 
have  returned  to  Capernaum,20  and  that  the  multitude,  going 
round  on  foot,,21  soon  overtook,  if  not  anticipated  him.22 
This  would  be  much  more  easily  accomplished  and  readily 
undertaken  from  Tell  Hum  than  from  Khan  Minyeh.  (5.) 
The  recent  seeming  identification  of  the  neiHiborino;  foun- 
tain  at  Tabigah,  as  the  fountain  of  Capernaum.  Josephus 

17  Onomasticon,  sub  verbo,  “  Est  autem  nunc  clesertura  in  secundo  lapide  a 
Kapharnaum.”  Mr.  Grove,  in  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  erroneously  cites 
it  from  the  commentary  on  Isa.  xx.  1. 

18  Bohn’s  Early  Travels  in  Palestine,  pp.  16,  17. 

19  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  pp.  270,  271. 

20  Compare  Mark  vi.  32,  and  John  vi.  24. 

21  Matt.  xiv.  13  ;  Mark  vi.  33. 


22  Mark  vi.  33. 


502 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


describes  a  fountain  called  Capharnaome,  as  ( a )  very  copious, 
(b)  as  watering  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  (c)  as  containing  the 
fish  Coracinus  (catfish).  Now  these  circumstances  meet 
only  in  El  Tabigah.  According  to  Captain  Wilson,  it  is  (a) 
three  times  as  copious  as  Mudawarah,  and  four  times  as 
copious  as  Et  Tin ;  (b)  it  is  provided  with  the  means  of  wa¬ 
tering  the  plain  in  its  ancient  reservoir  (believed  by  Sepp  to 
be  of  Phcenician-Sidonian  work),  and  its  aqueduct  leading  to 
the  south,  and  finally  cut  in  the  rock  and  carried  round  the 
rocky  cliff  on  the  northern  edge  of  the  plain  of  Gennesaret. 
This  was  first  traced  by  Captain  Wilson,  but  has  since  been 
examined  by  myself  and  other  travellers.  Macgregor  well 
remarks  of  the  cut  in  the  basalt  rock,  “  It  is  plainly  to  be 
seen  to  be  a  way  for  water,  by  its  section  like  an  inverted 
horseshoe.”  But  Et  Tin  is  not  only  small,  but  is  close  to  the 
sea,  only  about  eight  feet  above  its  level,  and  never  could 
have  watered  the  plain ;  while  Mudawarah,  though  larger 
than  Et  Tin,  shows  no  provision  of  the  kind  for  the  convey¬ 
ance  of  the  water,  (c)  The  fish  Coracinus  is  found  at  the 
outflow  of  this  fountain  into  the  sea.  This  is  a  recent  dis¬ 
covery.  Tristram,  having  seen  the  fish  at  Mudawarah  and 
not  at  Et  Tabigah,  regarded  this  fact  as  “  decisive  ”  against 
the  one  and  for  the  other.  But  Macgregor  has -destroyed 
this  argument,  lie  first  learned  from  the  fishermen,  by  care¬ 
ful  inquiry,23  that  this  fish  is  not  confined  to  Mudawarah,  but 
in  summer  is  also  found  at  Et  Tin,  and  always  in  the  lake; 
and  in  the  cooler  weather  only  beside  the  warm  springs 
coming  from  Tabigah ;  and  he  actually  saw  one  of  them 
splashing  in  the  shallow  water  at  the  latter  place.  And  he 
argues,  reasonably,  that  the  fish  could  as  well  ascend  into 
that  fountain  as  the  others.  The  millers,  in  fact,  assured 


23  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  pp.  358-360. 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


503 


him  that  fish  were  found  at  their  mill-dam.  This  identifica¬ 
tion  of  the  fountain  (accepted  by  Stanley)  is  an  important 
additional  consideration  of  recent  discovery.  (6.)  The  name 
Tell  Hum  has  also  been  cited  as  a  reminiscence  of  Caphar- 
naome ;  tell  (“  hill  ”),  it  is  alleged,  often  taking  the  place  of 
cajTiar  (“hamlet”),  and  Hum,  according  to  Delitzsch  and 
others,  an  abridgment  of  Nahum  ;  as  Nechunsa  in  Palestine 
is  abridged  to  Chunsa.  Caphar  (in  Hebrew,  or  Kefr  in 
Arabic)  Hum  would  be  village  of  Nahum,  Tell  Hum  the 
hill  of  Hum,  or  Nahum.  Without  laying  too  much  stress 
on  this  explanation,  it  is,  perhaps,  the  only  plausible  attempt 
to  find  the  old  name  of  Capernaum,  and  it  may  take  its 
place  in  connection  with  weightier  considerations. 

The  objections  to  this  identification  seem  to  be  indecisive. 
1.  It  has  been  inferred  from  Josephus’s  description  that  the 
city,  Capernaum,  must  have  been  contiguous  to  the  plain  of 
Gennesaret.  But  his  statement  only  affirms  that  the  foun¬ 
tain  of  Capharnaome  waters  the  plain.  The  fountain  Tabi- 
gah  apparently  performed  that  office.  That  this  fountain 
should  have  borne  the  name  of,  and  been  owned  and  con¬ 
trolled  by,  the  neighboring  city,  though  not  close  by  it,  is 
not  improbable.  2.  Sepp  asserts  the  counter-claim  of  Khan 
Minyeh,  from  the  name  Minyeh,  which  he  identifies  with 
the  Rabbinic  term  minaah ,  for  a  heretic,  and  endeavors  to 
connect  this  appellation  with  Capernaum  as  a  supposed  no¬ 
torious  place  for  Christian  heretics.  But  to  say  nothing  of 
the  impossibility  of  showing  that  Capernaum  was  ever  rec¬ 
ognized  as  a  special  seat  of  Christian  heretics,  Delitzsch  also 
mentions  that  the  name  itself,  Khan  Minyeh,  does  not  ap¬ 
pear  to  be  known  farther  back  than  an  Arabic  life  of  Sala- 
din,  written  in  1189.24  3.  Dr.  Robinson  cites  the  testimony 


24  Ein  Tag  in  Capernaum,  p.  22. 


504 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


of  early  travellers  to  show  that  Khan  Minyeh  was  from 
early  times  recognized  as  Capernaum.  But  it  is  generally 
conceded,  as  it  must  be,  that  his  quotations  are  not  conclu¬ 
sive.  The  statements  that  are  distinct  are  not  earlier  than 
Hegesippus,  of  the  twelfth  century.  4.  Mr.  Macgregor  en¬ 
deavors  to  show  that  in  the  storm  the  ship  could  not  well 
have  come  twenty-five  or  thirty  furlongs  on  the  way  from 
Butiha  to  Tell  Hum.  But  he  does  not  fully  consider  that 
the  wind  probably  drove  it  far  south  of  its  destination.  5. 
Macgregor  also  objects  to  the  want  of  a  good  harbor  at  Tell 
Hum.  But  his  own  explorations  disclosed  beneath  the  wTa- 
ter  “  clear  indications  of  a  pier,”  in  one  place  quite  near, 
beginning  on  shore  and  extending  into  the  water;  and  a  lit¬ 
tle  farther  south  “a  line  of  big:  stones  forming  a  sort  of  wall 
twenty  feet  long  and  ten  feet  broad,”  although  he  thinks 
that  “  in  no  part  about  this  point  is  there  any  proper  place 
for  boats.”  But  in  any  case,  harbor  or  no  harbor,  here  was 
clearly  a  place  of  some  importance  on  the  shore,  and  what 
was  it  ?  The  reasons,  on  the  whole,  are  stronger  in  evidence 
that  the  place  was  Capernaum,  than  for  any  other,  and  the 
objections  do  not  seem  to  invalidate  it.  We  have  in  favor 
of  it  the  distance  from  Chorazin,  its  vicinity  to  the  Jordan 
on  the  north,  its  proximity  to  the  fountain  of  Capharnaome, 
the  size  of  the  ruins,  and  the  magnificence  of  its  principal 
building,  a  synagogue  (in  which  it  has  no  competitor),  and 
even  a  reasonable  correspondence  of  the  name  itself,  while 
in  its  situation  on  the  shore  it  corresponds  to  the  narratives 
that  connect  it  with  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

But  Captain  Wilson’s  suggestion  is  a  good  one,  that  ex¬ 
tensive  excavations  should  be  made  both  at  Khan  Minyeh 
and  at  Tell  Hum,  and  until  this  is  done  it  is  impossible  to 
say  which  is  Capernaum. 

From  Tell  Hum  we  went  a  mile  and  a  half  to  Et  Tabigah, 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


505 


which  Robinson,  Tristram,  and  many  others,  regard  as  Beth- 
saida.  The  name  “  house  of  fish,”  as  Macgregor  suggests, 
would  be  well  deserved  from  the  abundance  of  fish  which 
he  saw  tumbling  in  the  water  there.25  The  little  bay,  half 
a  mile  in  width,  is,  as  the  same  writer  remarks,  admirably 
suited  for  boats,  provided  as  it  is  with  a  strip  of  white  beach, 
a  sheltering  projection  of  rocks  at  the  south-west,  and  on  the 
northern  side  deep  water  close  up  to  the  rocky  banks.  We 
landed  near  where  a  stream  came  swiftly  pouring  into  the 
lake.  A  few  rods  back  we  entered  a  mill  that  was  grinding; 
vigorously,  by  means  of  water  running  through  an  aqueduct 
from  the  hill-side  into  the  top  of  the  mill.  We  followed  the 
water  up  to  the  hill,  some  distance  from  the  mill,  and  found 
it  breaking  copiously  forth.  Captain  Wilson  describes  it  as 
by  far  the  largest  spring  in  Galilee,  and  more  than  half  the 
size  of  the  celebrated  source  of  the  Jordan  at  Banias.26  As 
it  bursts  from  the  ground  it  is  received  by  a  strong  octag¬ 
onal  reservoir,  some  twenty  feet  high,  but  now  rent  within 
two  feet  of  the  bottom.  On  the  eastern  side  the  reservoir  is 
partly  cut  in  the  rock.  The  masonry  is  very  ancient,  and  Dr. 
Robinson  thought  the  reservoir  to  be  of  Roman  origin  ;  but 
Sepp  regards  it  as  Phoenician,  and  mentions  its  resemblance 
in  shape  to  that  at  Paketvre,  which  I  afterward  saw.27  We 
traced  for  a  long  distance,  on  the  side  of  the  hill,  as  it  curved 
south-westerly,  the  ruins  of  the  cemented  aqueduct  that  once 
conveyed  the  waters  of  this  great  fountain  to  the  plain  of 
Gennesaret.  Afterward,  as  we  went  southward,  we  could 
also  see  from  the  boat  the  rock-hewn  cut,  some  twenty  feet 
above  the  lake,  which  carried  the  water  round  the  cliff  that 
juts  down  to  the  sea  north  of  Khan  Minyeh,  the  same  that 
Wilson  and  Macgregor  have  both  examined  and  described. 

O  O 


25  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  p.  336. 
27  Jerusalem,  ii.  184. 


26  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  p.  271. 


506 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


The  latter  speaks  of  “going  inside  the  dry  old  aqueduct, 
long  used  as  a  riding-path,  but  now  plainly  to  be  seen  as  a 
way  for  water  by  its  section  like  an  inverted  horseshoe,  the 
very  least  convenient  form  for  a  road,  and  the  very  best 
for  a  channel.”28  And  I  could  not  hesitate  to  assent  to  the 
opinion  of  the  former,  that  this  great  spring  is  without  doubt 
the  fountain  of  Capernaum,  mentioned  by  Josephus  as  water¬ 
ing  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  The  suggestion  of  De  Saulcy, 
Delitzsch,  and  others  is  an  obvious  one,  that,  though  not  in 
Capernaum,  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  the  important 
fountain  should  have  belonged  to,  and  been  named  from, 
that  important  city  in  the  vicinity. 

In  regard  to  the  aspect  and  bearings  of  the  evidence  here, 
the  sagacious  Dr.  Robinson  seems  to  have  been  less  sharp- 
sighted  and  cautious  than  usual,  perhaps  from  the  influence 
of  a  preconceived  opinion.  Ilis  quotations  from  Jerome, 
Eusebius,  Arculf,  and  Willibald  do  not  really  seem  to  aid  in 
determining  the  precise  place.  At  Et  Tabigah,  although 
he  had  come  through  and  recognized  the  rock-cut  channel 
around  the  cliff  north  of  Khan  Minyeh  as  unquestionably 
intended  to  carry  water  to  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  and  had 
remarked  that  there  were  “  no  waters  near  which  could  thus 
be  conveyed  except  from  the  fountains  of  Et  Tabigah,”  and 
though  at  the  octagonal  reservoir  of  those  “immense  foun¬ 
tains  ”  he  mentions  that  the  head  of  water  was  sufficient  to 
carry  it  to  the  channel  around  the  point  of  the  north  hill 
into  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  and  that  the  reservoir  “  was 
obviously  built  to  raise  the  water  to  an  aqueduct,”  he  adds, 
that  “  whether  the  water  was  so  conveyed  there  are  now  no 
traces  from  which  to  form  a  judgment.”29  And  yet  the 
aqueduct  is  traceable  for  a  long  distance  from  the  reservoir 


28  Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan,  p.  369. 


29  Researches,  iii.  345-6. 


MEJDEL  AND  PLAIN  OF  GENNESARET. 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


509 


south-westward.  When  he  went  to  Kerazeh,  he  contented 
himself  with  a  view  of  the  ruins  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away, 
there  being  “  no  path  ”  to  them ;  and  he  pronounces  them 
“  too  trivial  to  have  even  belonged  to  a  plain  of  any  impor¬ 
tance.”  And  yet  they  are  more  extensive  now  than  any 
others  in  the  region,  and  include  the  remains  of  a  syna- 

an 

gogue. 

After  a  lunch  near  the  old  fountain  of  Capharnaome,  our 
next  landing-place  was  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south,  be¬ 
yond  the  cliff  that  shuts  sharply  down  upon  the  lake  near 
the  fountain  that  takes  its  name,  Ain  et  Tin,  from  the  large 
tig-tree  close  by.  Some  sixty  rods  north  of  it,  at  the  foot  of 
a  hill,  lies  the  mound  Khan,  called  Khan  Minyeh,  and  about 
the  same  distance  west  or  south-west  of  it  a  series  of  mounds, 
old  ruins,  covering  a  moderate  space  of  ground,  with  traces 
of  a  thick  wall  around  them.  Here  Kobinson,  Sepp,  and 
others  would  find  Capernaum.  The  fertile  plain  of  Gen- 
nesaret,  so  enthusiastically  described  by  Josephus  as  u  the 
ambition  of  nature,”  stretched  away  three  miles  southward 
along  the  lake.  The  fountain  lies  very  low,  and  near  the 
level  of  the  lake.  Captain  Wilson  conjectured,  from  the  old 
water-marks,  that  the  lake  occasionally  rises  into  it.  This 
we  found  to  be  the  fact.  The  water  of  the  lake  had  spread 
over  beyond  its  ordinary  line,  and  the  whole  area  around  the 
fountain  was  a  sheet  of  water.  We  landed  upon  the  coast¬ 
line  of  rocks,  but  the  region  beyond  was  so  completely  a 
marsh  and  pool  that  it  was  impracticable  to  approach  the 
fountain,  or,  without  a  long  detour,  the  Khan  or  the  ruins. 
It  was  evident  at  a  glance  that  this  fountain  could  never 
have  watered  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  The  papyrus  which 
grows  here  was  not  now  accessible. 

o 


30  Researches,  iii.  347. 


510 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


ppjglF 


Pldiivmj. 

Biilailua 


mWa/i 


~t/l  O 


■VJilis/u  id 


JPJE 


Iftg® 


mm 

M 


fF/^=»“--“7V«S  emaXkfrMflp ' 

'  /LpRuintd liritlne-  „  ,• 

NmJisv-wdclKahalirj  '  xF 


iadnpa > 


A/vy  ~[777T7FHTvs 


MAP  OF  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


lene.  As  we  were  to  pass  through  it  next  day,  we  did  not 
land.  We  returned  in  good  season  to  Tiberias,  after  a  de¬ 
lightful  excursion,  marred  only  by  the  loss  of  the  good 


In  sailing  homeward — for  the  wind  was  favorable — we 
passed  the  small  shabby  hamlet  of  Mejdel,  famous  as  Mag- 
dala,  but  only  for  having  been  the  home  of  Mary  Magda- 


ON  AND  AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 


511 


alpenstock  which  had  accompanied  me  to  the  top  of  Vesu¬ 
vius,  Serbal,  and  Sinai,  up  the  Nile  and  across  the  desert, 
now  consigned  accidentally  to  the  waters  of  Gennesaret, 
and  disappearing  amidst  the  waves  before  the  Arabs  could 
be  made  to  put  about  their  clumsy  boat. 

After  landing  at  Tiberias,  a  place  which  there  is  no  evi¬ 
dence  that  the  Saviour  ever  visited,  I  closed  the  day  by  a 
walk  a  mile  or  more  southward,  passing  over  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Tiberias.  Here,  fallen  pillars  lying  in  the  grass, 
and  ruins  of  massive  walls,  suggest  the  sumptuous  buildings, 
and  wealth,  and  luxury,  and  revelry,  that  passed  away  ages 
ago.  Straggling  columns  stand  in  dismal  solitude  in  or 
near  the  water’s  edge,  and  in  some  places  fallen  pillars  can 
be  seen  several  feet  below  the  surface.  Back  of  the  narrow 
strip  of  land  along  the  shore  the  cliffs  rose  abruptly,  show¬ 
ing  the  openings  of  caves  here  and  there.  The  hot  springs, 
with  which  my  walk  terminated,  are  not  alluded  to  in  the 
Scriptures,  the  town  itself  having  sprung  up  only  in  the 
time  of  the  infamous  emperor  for  whom  it  was  named  by 
Herod  Antipas.  They  are,  however,  repeatedly  mentioned 
by  Josephus.  Some  seven  different  springs,  salt,  bitter,  and 
sulphurous,  come  gurgling  out  of  the  declivity,  and  two  of 
them  are  conducted  into  bath-houses.  I  entered  one  of  the 
baths,  and  found  the  water  so  hot  (136°)  that  it  took  many 
minutes  of  gradual  experiment  to  prepare  for  a  full  immer¬ 
sion,  and  then  the  sensation  was  that  of  parboiling. 

That  night  the  full  moon  rose  soft  and  clear  over  the 
country  of  the  Gadarenes,  and  as  its  silver  light  streamed 
down  upon  the  water,  the  perfect  stillness  that  reigned 
around  left  the  heart  at  liberty  to  people  the  lake  and  its 
shores,  no  longer  with  the  Turk,  the  Arab,  and  the  down¬ 
trodden  Jew,  but  with  the  sacred  forms  of  old. 


512 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

FROM  GENNESARET  TO  THE  COASTS  OF  TYRE  AND  SIDON. 

Next  morning  (April  1st)  our  journey  led  us  northward 
about  three  miles  along  the  shore  of  the  lake.  At  the  south¬ 
ern  extremity  of  the  plain  of  Gennesaret  we  passed  through 
the  small  hamlet  of  Mejdel.  Rank  grass  and  weeds  and  a 
few  patches  of  grain  here  represent  the  luxuriant  growth  of 
ancient  times,  and  a  score  of  poor  hovels  its  once  abundant 
population.  As  we  rode  by,  we  were  lustily  assailed  with 
the  cry  of  “backsheesh”  from  a  company  of  urchins  in  the 
scantiest  apparel,  some  of  them  cpiite  too  young  to  speak 
their  favorite  word  distinctly.  Here  we  turned  at  right,  an¬ 
gles  to  the  left  up  Wady  Ilamam.  We  may  not  have  been 
on  the  same  track,  but  we  were  on  the  same  journey  which 
the  Saviour  once  took  when  he  went  from  “  the  land  of 
Gennesaret,”  and  “  departed  unto  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon.”1  We  followed  a  little  stream  up  the  deep  chasm, 
and  in  about  twenty  minutes  we  reached  a  place  where,  for 
some  distance,  the  cliffs  rose  on  both  sides  almost  perpen¬ 
dicularly  to  the  height  of  600  feet,  according  to  Murray,  or 
1200  according  to  Captain  Wilson.  On  the  southern  side, 
above  the  precipice,  and  of  course  wholly  out  of  sight  from 
us,  lay  the  ruins  of  Irbid,  or  Arbela,  and  in  full  sight,  half¬ 
way  up  the  cliff,  the  celebrated  robbers’  caverns  of  the  times 
of  Herod  the  Great.  High  up  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  we 


1  Matt.  xiv.  34 ;  xv.  21. 


WADY  HAMAM, 


TO  THE  COASTS  OF  TYRE  AND  SI  I)  ON. 


515 


could  see  the  openings  of  the  caves,  connected  by  horizontal 
rock-hewn  galleries,  with  walls  in  front,  and  rising  above 
each  other  in  tiers.  It  was  the  scene  of  that  extraordinary 
and  sanguinary  conflict  in  mid-air,  when  Herod's  soldiers, 
foiled  in  all  other  attempts  upon  this  inaccessible  strong¬ 
hold,  were  swung  down  from  above  to  the  mouths  of  the 
dens  in  chests,  and  destroyed  the  occupants  with  the  sword 
and  with  fire.  Here  was  enacted  that  characteristically 
tragic  scene  in  which  the  old  bandit,  rather  than  surrender 
upon  the  offered  mercy,  stood  at  the  cave’s  mouth,  and  as 
his  seven  sons  and  his  wife  successively  came  forth,  slew 
them  one  by  one,  threw  their  bodies  down,  and  hurled  him¬ 
self  after  them.  The  valley  became  hot  as  the  sun  rose 
upon  us.  I  soon  came  to  an  object  for  which  I  had  been 
looking  for  some  time.  It  was  a  fig-tree  in  a  warm,  shel¬ 
tered  nook,  which  was  in  advance  of  the  season.  It  was 
covered  with  figs,  some  of  them  pretty  wrell  grown,  while 
the  leaves  had  barely  begun  to  show  themselves.  I  broke 
off  and  brought  home  one  twig,  with  seven  growing  figs 
upon  it,  and  only  three  little  leaves,  which  were  just  started 
at  the  end  of  the  branch.  Other  trees  were  further  advanced, 
and  showed  more  leaves.  It  illustrated  that  passage  (Mark 
xi.  13)  where  the  Saviour  saw  a  fig-tree  full  of  leaves  when 
it  was  not  the  season  for  figs,  and  drew  nigh  “  if  haply  he 
might  find  fruit  thereon.”  The  abundant  show  of  leaves 
justified  the  expectation  of  fruit  on  that  tree  in  the  sheltered 
nook,  although  the  time  for  figs  elsewhere  had  not  come. 

We  emerged  from  Wady  Hamam,  and  passed  through 
Hattin,  a  dirty  village  on  a  most  sunny,  fertile  soil.  Here, 
in  a  broken-down  house,  1  had  an  opportunity  to  see  the 
construction  of  a  Syrian  roof — with  timbers,  cross-pieces, 
bellan  (thorn-bush),  and,  on  top  of  all,  earth  or  clay — one 
sasily  broken  up. 


516 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


Thence  we  came  along  by  the  plain  of  Buttauf,  now  a 
lake.  Our  road  properly  lay  across  it,  but  we  were  obliged 
to  go  round  on  the  edge  of  the  hills.  Mr.  Thomson  records 
a  ride  across  it  once,  when  half  under  water,  as  the  most 
nervous  ride  he  ever  took.2  After  inquiring  in  vain  for 
Khurbet  Cana,  Robinson’s  Cana  el  Jelil  (or  Cana  of  Galilee), 
and  at  last  falling  back  on  the  map  for  our  guide,  we  finally 
reached  the  place,  a  deserted  village  on  the  southern  side  of 
a  hill,  comprising  some  twenty  stone  houses,  not  laid  with 
mortar,  all  fallen  in.  Not  a  living  being  wras  to  be  seen. 
We  had  inquired  all  along  and  around  in  vain  for  the  name 
Cana  el  Jelil,  and  were  positively  assured  by  the  Arabs  of 
the  region,  over  and  over,  that  they  knew  it  by  no  such 
name,  but  only  as  Khurbet  Cana,  i.  <?.,  the  u  ruins”  of  Cana. 
In  this  respect  our  experience  was  much  the  same  as  that  of 
Dr.  Thomson,  who  on  one.  excursion  amused  himself  the 
whole  morning  with  inquiring  for  the  name  Cana  el  Jelil, 
but  found  no  one  who  professed  to  be  acquainted  with  it, 
except  one  man,  and  he  apparently  gave  him  an  affirmative 
answer  merely  as  an  accommodation.3 

Notwithstanding  the  able  argument  of  Dr.  Robinson,  and 
the  confident  assertion  of  Sepp,  that  this,  and  not  Kefr 
Kenna,  is  the  place  of  the  wedding,  there  are  certainly  some 
difficulties  not  yet  removed  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  schol¬ 
ars.  One  is  this  prevailing  ignorance  in  the  region  of  any 
such  name  as  Cana  el  Jelil.  Another  is  the  lack  of  any 

•J 

clear  identification  of  this  locality  till  the  time  of  the  Cru¬ 
sades.  In  truth,  Di*.  Sepp  admits  that  Jerome  appears  to 
have  accepted  Kefr  Kenna  on  account  of  its  proximity  to 
Nazareth.4  Again,  Willibald,  in  the  year  72S,  found  at 
Cana  a  great  church.5  But  no  vestige  of  a  church  or  any 


2  The  Land  and  the  Book,  ii.  p.  122.  3  Ibid.  ii.  121. 

4  Jerusalem,  ii.  104.  5  Early  Travels  in  Palestine,  Bohn’s  edition,  p.  16. 


TO  THE  COASTS  OF  TYRE  AND  SID  ON. 


517 


other  considerable  building  can  be  found  at  Khnrbet  Cana, 
nor,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  any  trace  of  early  antiquity.  For 
Kefr  Kenna  can  be  alleged,  apparently,  the  remark  of  Je¬ 
rome,  its  vicinity  to  Nazareth,  then  the  home  of  the  Sav¬ 
iour,  and  the  old  olive-trees,  and  especially  the  ancient  sar¬ 
cophagus,  carrying  us  back  unquestionably  to  early  times. 
Dr.  Thomson  and  Professor  Ilackett  leave  the  question  in 
doubt.  Mr.  Dixon  vigorously  defends  the  claims  of  Kefr 
Kenna.  An  hour  from  Khurbet  Cana  brought  us  to  Kefr 
Menda  for  the  night.  Our  tents  and  baggage,  which  had 
not  yet  overtaken  us  since  before  our  arrival  at  Jenin,  and 
which  had  not  followed  us  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  had  been 
ordered  to  meet  us  here.  Before  our  arrival  at  Kefr  Men¬ 
da,  as  we  skirted  the  hills  on  the  northern  edge  of  a  plain, 
we  could  see  our  baggage-mules,  on  the  south-eastern  side  of 
the  same  plain,  struggling  in  the  mud,  and  turning  back  to 
take  a  different  path.  They  were  then  not  more  than  three 
miles  from  Kefr  Menda.  We  arrived  before  them,  and  had 
no  resort  but  to  go  to  the  public-house  of  the  place.  It  con¬ 
sisted  of  one  large  room,  with  a  small  fire  in  the  centre,  a 
very  small  hole  above  for  the  smoke,  which  refused  to  pass 
through  it,  and  two  very  small  holes  in  the  sides  for  win¬ 
dows.  Its  whole  furniture  consisted  of  two  strips  of  mat¬ 
ting  along  the  floor  on  one  side.  The  natives,  who  were 
smoking  on  our  arrival,  civilly  gave  way  for  us.  Here  we 
sat,  tired,  hungry,  and  expectant,  for  three  hours,  till  nine 
o’clock,  sustained,  each  of  us,  by  a  tiny  cup  of  Arab  coffee. 
At  length,  wearied  out,  we  lay  down,  with  our  mackintoshes 
and  shawls  for  pillows,  and  our  tent-rugs,  which  were  with 
us,  for  mattresses.  Tired  as  I  was,  I  was  conscious  of  being 
excessively  uncomfortable,  and  of  rolling  from  side  to  side 
perhaps  twenty  times  in  the  night.  In  the  morning  I  learned 
the  reason.  My  wrists,  and  neck,  and  ankles  were  absolutely 


51S 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


red  with  the  ravages  of  those  Oriental  companions  of  the 
traveller,  which,  having  spared  ns  hitherto,  even  in  Tiberias, 
had  determined  to  give  us  one  thorough  experience  of  East¬ 
ern  life  before  we  finally  left  their  native  land. 

But  the  thing  that  waked  us  at  five  o’clock  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  was  the  welcome  sound  of  our  Arabs.  They  had  taken 
eleven  hours  to  travel  through  or  round  the  three  miles’ 
distance  from  Kefr  Menda.  The  dragoman  declared  that 
they  had  tried  seven  different  paths  across  the  plain,  and 
then  gone  round  by  the  hills ;  that  the  mules  had  fallen  a 
thousand  times,  and  that  they  had  been  travelling  all  night. 
We  might  have  made  large  allowances  for  orientalisms,  and 
supposed  that  they  had  been  comfortably  quartered  some¬ 
where,  but  for  the  fact  that  we  had  seen  them  changing 
their  route,  and  for  the  worn-out  aspect  of  men  and  ani¬ 
mals,  as  well  as  the  circumstance  that  all  our  valises  had 
been  in  the  mud  and  water,  to  the  very  serious  damage  of 
their  contents  and  the  fatal  disfigurement  of  their  exteriors. 
A  good  breakfast  soon  made  all  things  look  cheerful,  and 
at  eight  o’clock  (April  2d)  we  were  once  more  on  our  way. 

There  is  nothing  of  special  interest  from  Kefr  Menda  to 
Acre.  I  had  noticed  in  general  the  greater  abundance  of 
trees  in  Northern  than  in  Southern  Palestine,  and  the  pre¬ 
dominance  of  fertile  plains.  To-day  we  crossed  the  great 
plain  of  Acre,  a  very  garden  in  fertility.  On  the  farther 
side,  just  before  entering  the  city,  I  saw  a  flock  of  sheep  fol¬ 
lowing  the  shepherd  as  he  moved  along  in  front,  occasion¬ 
ally  uttering  a  vocal  call  or  sometimes  a  whistle.  One 
steady  animal  followed  like  a  dog,  close  at  his  heels.  A 
few  others  came  stringing  along  in  single  file,  and  then  the 
whole  flock  followed  in  their  train. 

We  entered  and  rode  through  the  city  of  Akka,  or  Acre, 
once  famous  as  the  great  harbor  of  the  Crusaders,  and  in 


TO  THE  COASTS  OF  TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


519 


modern  times  for  Napoleon’s  siege.  We  visited  the  few 
relics  that  have  come  down  from  crusading  times,  and  then 
rode  on.  Our  jaded  animals,  as  we  rode  through  the  more 
public  portion  of  the  city,  made  a  sorry  figure  beside  some 
splendid  horses  of  the  military  that  we  encountered  on  our 
way,  and  we  had  human  sensibilities  enough,  even  after  our 
adventures  of  the  previous  night,  to  be  willing  to  encamp 
two  miles  north  of  the  city. 

The  next  morning  (April  3d)  our  route  carried  us  along, 
for  the  most  part,  by  the  sea — a  very  delightful  ride.  The 
rocky  coast,  on  which  the  waves  incessantly  broke,  was  the 
first  familiar-looking  object  I  had  seen  for  months,  and  car¬ 
ried  with  it  a  reminder  of  New  England.  This  coast  might 
have  passed  for  some  portions  of  the  shore  of  Maine.  A 
part  of  the  way  was  along  one  of  those  ancient  roads  built 
by  the  Homans,  not  very  smooth  after  more  than  a  thousand 
years  of  neglect.  Two  hours  from  our  camp  we  climbed 
“the  Syrian  ladder,”  a  winding  track  over  a  high  rocky 
promontory,  and  were  out  of  Palestine  proper  and  in  the 
region  of  Phoenicia.  An  hour  before  we  reached  it  we  pass¬ 
ed  the  little  village  Ez  Zib,  the  ancient  Aclizib,  which  Asher 
should  have  owned,  but  never  conquered.  Still  we  were 
not  absolute^  beyond  the  Saviour’s  journeying;  for  on 
one  occasion,  as  if  to  inaugurate  the  missionary  work  in  per¬ 
son,  he  came  into  the  region  of  “  Tyre  and  Sidon.”6  It  was 
somewhere  in  this  region  that  he  encountered  that  remark¬ 
able  exhibition  of  faith  in  the  woman  who  was  a  Canaanite 
by  descent,  a  Syrophenician  by  residence,  and  a  Greek  by 
training.  And  this  was  the  track  by  which  he  naturally 
would  have  come.  Then  we  passed  some  ruins  with  melan¬ 
choly-looking  columns,  where  not  even  a  wild  animal  was  to 


6  Matt.  xv.  21-28. 


520 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


be  seen,  and  came  to  a  round  Roman  fortress  and  a  great 
fountain  near  it,  once  called  Alexandroschene  (Alexander’s 
tent),  now  corrupted  into  Iskanderiyeh.  We  were  on  the 
track  of  the  Macedonian.  We  climbed  the  “  White  Cap,”  a 
lofty  limestone  cliff  thrust  boldly  into  the  sea.  A  narrow 
road  wound  its  way  up  on  the  edge  of  the  solid  rock,  where 
at  times  one  could  look  over  into  the  sea,  foaming  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  directly  beneath.  At  the  summit  was 
a  Roman  fort,  to  remind  us  again  of  the  strong  hand  that 
once  stretched  over  the  nations  and  seized  every  strong¬ 
hold.  About  an  hour  thence  were  some  remarkably  copi¬ 
ous  fountains,  gushing  up  and  filling  four  reservoirs.  They 
mark  the  site  of  old  Tyre,  and  are  about  three  miles  south 
of  the  present  town.  One  of  the  reservoirs  is  built  exces¬ 
sively  thick — eight  feet  at  the  top — in  an  octagonal  shape, 
sixty -six  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty -five  feet  high.  It 
slopes  outward  like  the  side  of  a  hill,  and  the  masonry  is 
crusted  thick  with  limestone.  The  octagonal  shape  reminds 
one  instantly  of  the  reservoir  at  Et  Tabigah.  The  Romans 
put  their  handiwork  here  also,  in  the  shape  of  an  aqueduct 
supported  by  arches,  and  traceable  still  for  two  miles  to  the 
north.  Thence  we  rode  along  the  beach  till  we  struck  the 
causeway  built  by  Alexander,  and  since  filled  in  with  sand, 
that  connected  the  main -land  with  the  former  island  on 
which  commercial  Tyre,  “  the  mistress  of  the  seas,”  was 
built.  It  had  been  originally  a  rocky  island,  half  a  mile 
from  the  coast,  with  a  wall  running  all  round  at  the  water’s 
edge,  until  the  genius  of  the  great  conqueror  joined  it  to  the 
main-land,  to  capture  the  city.  The  connection  has  never 
been  obliterated,  but  widened  by  accumulated  sand.  As  we 
turned  west  along  the  southern  edge  of  this  causeway,  we 
saw  prostrate  columns  on  the  sand,  and,  farther  along,  medi¬ 
aeval  walls,  and  red  and  gray  granite  columns,  lying  beneath. 


TYRE,  FROM  THE  EAST, 


. 


. 


TO  THE  COASTS  OF  TYRE  AND  SID  ON 


523 


Farther  on,  we  rode  over  an  unoccupied  space,  and  sawT  on 
the  right  the  ruined  foundations  of  houses  that  had  been 
dug  over  for  stones.  We  pushed  on  to  the  extreme  western 
coast  of  the  peninsula,  wholly  beyond  its  present  houses,  aud 
pitched  our  camp  within  six  rods  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 
I  walked  along  the  water’s  edge,  and  for  some  considerable 
distance  could  trace  the  old  sea-wall,  worn  down  to  within 
six  inches  of  the  native  rock,  but  showing  cement  and  stones 
firmly  bound  together.  Off  the  north-western  point  of  the 
island  I  counted  about  sixty  columns,  or  parts  of  columns, 
lying  on  the  rocks,  and  at  low  tide  nearly  out  of  water.  In 
the  harbor,  on  the  north  side,  I  counted  eighteen  fishing- 
boats  ;  and  on  the  rocks,  nearly  opposite  the  prostrate  col- 
umiis,  the  fishermen  had  “  spread  their  nets,’’  according  to 
the  ancient  prophecy.  At  evening -prayers  we  read  the 
twenty-sixth  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  with  a  vivid  sense  of  its 
prophetic  grandeur  and  terrible  meaning.  Late  in  the  even¬ 
ing  I  wandered  forth  to  look  upon  the  ruins  of  this  mistress 
of  the  seas  by  the  light  of  the  bright,  clear  moon,  and  as  I 
lay  down  to  sleep,  the  loud  roaring  of  the  waves  breaking  on 
the  desolate  coast  seemed  like  the  solemn  and  eternal  echo 
of  the  ancient  prophecy  of  God. 

In  the  morning  (April  4tli),  as  we  came  out  of  the  one 
gate  of  modern  Tyre,  we  rode  over  two  granite  columns 
lying  embedded  in  the  ground  across  the  opening.  Just 
outside  stood  a  large  and  massive  sarcophagus,  now  broken 
in  two,  sculptured  on  both  sides,  and  showing  a  ram’s-head 
carved  on  each  corner  of  one  end. 

A  little  farther  along  we  met  seven  women  coming  in, 
each  with  a  load  of  long,  small  firewood  on  her  head.  It 
was  a  good  illustration  of  the  functions  of  women,  as  we  had 
seen  them  throughout  much  of  this  region.  While  donkeys 
are  the  baggage-wagons,  women  are  the  hand-carts. 


524 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


On  our  way  to  Sidon  we  repeatedly  encountered  unknown 
ruins.  In  one  place  were  the  columns  and  hewn  stones  of 
quite  a  large  town,  and  we  dug  up  little  stones  from  patches 
of  mosaic  directly  in  our  path.  Occasionally  we  found  our¬ 
selves  on  the  Roman  road.  About  ten  miles  before  reaching 
Sidon,  we  passed  a  little  village  called  Surafend,  situated  at 
the  right,  on  a  sidehill  sloping  east.  The  name  represents 
the  Sarepta  of  Elijah  the  prophet,  although  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  village  itself,  abandoned  in  the  Middle  Ages  for  a 
safer  site  upon  the  hills,  lay  down  upon  the  coast  at  our  left. 
We  lunched  at  a  fountain,  where,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw 
tamarisk-trees  two  feet  in  diameter.  At  very  many  points 
along  the  way  we  saw  signs  of  former  occupancy,  where  not 
an  inhabitant  is  now  to  be  seen.  Occasionally,  and  especial¬ 
ly  as  we  approached  Sidon,  there  were  stones  that  showed 
the  mark  of  the  chisel,  built  into  the  walls  by  the  way-side. 
It  was  a  strange  comment  upon  the  ancient  glory  and  the 
modern  desolation. 

We  now  drew  near  the  “  Great  Zidon,”  whither  Joshua 
“  chased  the  scattered  fragments  of  the  confederated  ar¬ 
mies  of  the  North,  after  his  crowning  and  overwhelming 
victory  “  at  the  waters  of  Merom.”  As  we  approached  the 
gate  we  saw  a  rider  coming  out  to  meet  us.  lie  proved  to 
be  Rev.  Mr.  Pond,  the  missionary,  hastening  to  give  us  a 
welcome.  While  the  tents  were  pitching  we  went  to  his 
house,  and  found  there  two  lady  friends,  now  members  of 
his  family,  whose  acquaintance  we  had  formed  in  Rome,  and 
whose  society  we  had  enjoyed  across  the  Mediterranean,  in 
the  stormy  passage  from  Brindisi  to  Alexandria.  They  who 
have  been  a  year  from  their  own  homes,  and  for  many 
long  weeks  in  the  hands  of  Syrians  and  Arabs,  can  appreci¬ 
ate  the  pleasure  of  such  an  encounter  and  such  a  welcome. 
After  dinner  in  our  tents  we  were  invited  to  the  house  of 


SIDON. 


TO  THE  COASTS  OF  TYRE  AND  SID  ON 


527 


Rev.  Mr.  Eddy,  another  laborious  and  faithful  missionary, 
now  of  the  Presbyterian  Board.  In  these  delightful  circles 
we  could  see  the  power  of  the  cultivated  Christian  home  as 
itself  a  great  Christianizing  influence  in  these  degraded 
regions. 

Sunday  morning  we  attended  the  Arabic  service  of  the 
Mission  Church.  Some  two  hundred  persons  were  present. 
The  service  was  followed  by  the  communion,  at  which  one 
middle-aged  man  joined  the  church.  This,  again,  was  a 
strange  and  novel  experience — to  sit  down  as  fellow-citizens 
of  the  Kingdom  with  a  company  of  those  with  whom  we 
had  no  means  of  manifesting  a  common  sympathy,  except 
as  we  partook  together  of  that  sacred  ordinance,  our  glori¬ 
ous  and  unmistakable  bond  of  union.  The  afternoon  was 
partly  spent  in  delightful  intercourse  with  these  two  fam¬ 
ilies,  and  the  evening  at  Mr.  Pond’s,  in  a  prayer  -  meeting 
long  to  be  remembered. 


528 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  TIIE  EAST. 

It  was  a  natural  and  fitting  egress  from  the  oriental  and 
antiquarian  scenes  of  the  last  few  months  that  we  should 
pass  through  the  homes  of  those  devoted  men  who  are  carry¬ 
ing  back  to  the  East  the  Light  that  came  thence  to  the  West. 
We  esteemed  it  a  felicitous  rounding  off  of  our  journey  that 
the  remainder  of  our  way,  till  we  sailed  from  the  Golden 
Horn,  was  a  constant  contact  with  our  American  mission¬ 
aries.  It  began  at  “  Great  Zidon,”  and  ended  in  Constan¬ 
tinople.  In  those  clear-headed,  faithful,  practical  men,  and 
those  noble  and  accomplished  women,  we  felt  that  our  coun¬ 
try  was  represented  at  its  very  best,  and  that  if  there  were 
more  delightful  homes  or  more  hospitable  hearts  in  the 
mother -land,  we  had  failed  to  find  them.  It  was  with  a 
feeling  almost  of  sadness  that  we  turned  away  from  our 
new-found  friends  in  Sidon,  even  though  our  faces  were 
set  toward  the  place  where  fresh  letters  from  home  and  the 
home-bound  steamer  were  in  waiting. 

A  long  day’s  ride,  without  special  interest,  brought  us  to 
Beyroot.  The  most  striking  event  was  when  the  mountains 
of  Lebanon  loomed  up,  white  with  the  deepest  snow  of  many 
years.  We  dismounted  at  the  hotel  in  Beyroot,  willing  to 
bid  good-bye  to  the  horses  and  camels  that  had  been  for 
sixty  days  our  sole  and  safe  conveyance — bearing  myself, 
however,  a  slight  tinge  of  sciatica,  to  remind  me  of  the  heavy 
rains  and  wet  saddles  of  Palestine.  I  found  that  the  way 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST.  529 


to  Damascus,  which  had  been  blocked  lip  four  weeks  by  the 
deep  snow,  was  not  yet  fairly  open  ;  and  having  the  alterna¬ 
tive  of  a  departure  that  night  or  a  fortnight’s  delay,  three 
of  ns  decided  upon  the  former.  The  same  night  a  large 
company  of  tourists  left  on  the  .Austrian  Lloyd,  many  of 
whom  had  had  a  hard  and  sorry  time  in  their  travels,  and 
some  of  whom  had  been  almost  entirely  frustrated  of  their 
intended  journeys.  We  encountered  others  next  day  on  the 
French  steamer,  and  we  found  that  while  such  tourist  com¬ 
panies,  under  contract  with  some  western  firm  and  by  fixed 
programme,  might  work  well  when  all  the  elements  also 
worked  well,  they  were,  under  other  circumstances,  to  the 
last  degree  unsatisfactory  and  annoying.  Disappointments, 
complaints,  and  sometimes  almost  feuds,  were  the  conse- 
cpiences.  One  seldom  hears  bitterer  things  from  well-bred 
men  and  women  than  in  some  of  these  fresh  reminiscences. 
Several  of  our  passengers  had,  as  I  found,  no  pleasant  recol¬ 
lections  of  their  trip  in  Palestine.  It  had  consisted  of  the 
ride  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem,  thence  a  few  hours’  ride  to 
Ramleli  in  the  rain,  followed  by  an  abrupt  retreat  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  Jaffa  again,  and  a  passage  thence  by  steamer  to 
Beyroot.  So  much  for  seeing  Palestine.  They  were  all 
English,  belonging  to  a  company  of  tourists,  and  their  com¬ 
ments  on  the  company  and  the  management  were  not  alto¬ 
gether  gentle  and  mild. 

The  shortness  of  our  stay  made  it  busy  work  at  Beyroot. 
But  we  had  time  for  a  pleasant  exploration  of  the  Bible- 
house,  complete  in  all  the  apparatus  of  type-founding,  stere¬ 
otyping,  binding,  and  printing,  with  the  choice  modern  type 
devised  by  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  that  pleases  the  fastidious  Oriental 
eye,  and  furnishes  a  religious,  and  to  some  degree  educa¬ 
tional,  literature  for  the  immense  Arab-speaking  portions  of 
the  human  race.  We  visited,  also,  the  Female  Seminary  of 

34 


530 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  American  Mission,  which  was  just  commencing  its  an¬ 
nual  examinations.  We  heard  only  the  primary  department. 
Except  the  countenances  of  the  pupils  and  the  foreign  lan¬ 
guage,  there  was  little  to  remind  ns — in  manners,  deport¬ 
ment,  or  seeming  intelligence — that  we  were  not  at  home. 
And  to  our  eyes  one  of  the  most  striking  sights  in  the  ex¬ 
amination  was  a  native  teacher,  who  took  part.  We  could 
not  but  think  of  the  forbidding  objects,  having  the  name 
of  women,  that  we  had  encountered  for  so  long  a  time,  bear¬ 
ing  burdens  and  performing  menial  offices,  dirty  and  dull  of 
aspect,  sometimes  covering  the  face  and  heedless  of  other 
exposures.  And  now  what  a  contrast  in  this  brunette  maid¬ 
en — neat,  tasteful,  and  attractive  in  appearance,  lady-like  in 
deportment,  bright  of  countenance,  and  apparently  in  every 
respect  the  peer  and  the  sister  of  her  fairer  companions 
from  the  West!  And  we  deeply  felt  what  and  who  have 
made  this  transformation,  or  rather  transfiguration,  of  the 
sex.  Here  we  met  Dr.  Thomson,  of  the  “  Land  and  the 
Book,”  and  Mr.  Dennis,  of  the  Syrian  College — an  institu¬ 
tion  which,  to  our  great  regret,  we  could  not  visit. 

We  were  invited  to  lunch  with  Dr.  Jessup,  who  has  made, 
and  is  making,  his  mark  in  Syria.  Here,  besides  his  own 
pleasant  family,  we  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hardin,  missionaries 
from  Tripoli.  Among  other  articles  of  food,  Mr.  Jessup 
kindly  produced,  for  my  gratification,  some  dibs — boiled 
grape -juice,  thicker  than  molasses,  about  like  honey;  not 
used  as  a  drink,  but  eaten  like  jelly. 

During  the  day  our  dragoman,  Joseph  Tannus,  with  his 
confidential  servant  Ibrahim,  and  his  solemn  cook,  to  whom 
we  were  indebted  for  so  many  cheerful  repasts,  called  to 
pay  their  respects  and  to  receive  their  recommendations  and 
their  backsheesh,  both  of  which  were  duly  granted  them — to 
the  two  last-mentioned  persons  without  hesitation  or  qualifi- 


BEYROOT. 


( 


I 


* 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST.  533 

cation,  and  to  the  first  with  some  slight  reserve.  With  Ori¬ 
ental  politeness  they  presented  themselves  that  evening  at 
nine  o’clock,  to  see  u&  off  for  the  French  steamer  Eridan. 
One  of  our  company  through  the  desert  remained  behind. 
Mr.  Hardin,  the  missionary,  was  our  companion,  returning 
to  his  field  of  labor  at  Tripoli.  We  reached  that  place  early 
in  the  morning,  and  Mr.  Ilardin  took  us  on  shore  with  him. 
We  breakfasted  with  Mrs.  Jessup,  of  this  missionary  field, 
visited  Mr.  Hardin’s  house,  and  then  rode  with  him  up  to 
“the  Castle,”  an  old  fortress  of  the  Crusaders’  time.  We 
dined  with  Dr.  Danforth,  another  of  the  missionaries,  and 
toward  evening  returned  to  the  steamer,  after  a  day  of  de¬ 
light  in  these  refined  and  cordial  Christian  homes. 

Back  of  Tripoli  rises  Mount  Lebanon,  ten  thousand  feet 
in  height,  now  covered  deep  with  snow.  We  could  see  the 
depression  in  the  mountain  where  the  famous  cedars  were 
— now  wholly  inaccessible.  The  boat  put  off  at  night ;  and 
next  morning,  at  Latakia,  we  parted  company  with  another 
of  our  companions  through  the  desert.  From  Latakia  to 
Alexandretta  the  mountains  shut  down  close  to  the  sea,  and 
their  tops  were  covered  with  snow.  The  next  morning 
found  us  at  Mersin,  the  port  of  Tarsus,  which  city  lay  four 
hours’  ride  inland.  It  was  easy  to  see  where  the  road 
climbed  up  the  mountain-side  toward  the  birthplace  of  the 
great  apostle,  and  metropolis  of  Cilicia.  But  as  there  is 
almost  no  remnant  of  the  ancient  town  except  the  vestiges 
of  a  theatre,  and  as  eight  hours  on  horseback  was  a  long 
ride  for  one  who  still  felt  the  effects  of  the  exposures  in 
Palestine,  I  did  not  incline  to  take  the  journey. 

On  leaving  Mersin  we  sailed  near  enough  to  the  ruins  of 
Pompeiopolis  to  see  some  forty  Corinthian  columns  standing 
at  intervals  along  the  shore.  They  were  tokens  of  a  time, 
probably,  when  Cleopatra  sailed  by,  as  she  turned  up  the 


534 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


now  obstructed  channel  of  the  Cydnus  in  her  gorgeous  gal¬ 
ley,  to  the  sound  of  flutes,  pipes,  and  harps,  to  meet  and  con¬ 
quer  Antony  in  Tarsus. 

The  island  of  Rhodes,  where  we  next  put  in,  recalled 
some  of  the  earliest  and  finest  specimens  of  Grecian  sculpt¬ 
ure,  and  the  time  when,  as  Pliny  says,  there  were  three 
thousand  statues  there;  but  there  is  now  little  to  remind 
one  of  the  ancient  glory,  unless  it  be  here  and  there  some 
fragments  of  columns.  The  marks  of  crusading  times  were 
distinct  and  abundant.  One  long,  ascending  street  showed 
on  the  carved  fronts  of  the  ancient  dwellings  various  coats 
of  arms;  and  we  passed  the  somewhat  dismantled  dwelling 
of  the  Grand  Master.  At  the  top  of  this  long  street  wrere  a 
few  scattered  fragments  of  the  once  fine  Church  of  St.  John, 
and  close  by  it  the  great  cavity  of  the  magazine  that  took 
fire  and  blew  it  to  atoms. 

Close  by  the  harbor  is  a  fine  gate,  with  a  round  tower  on 
each  side,  and  some  twenty  rods  east  of  it  is  a  double  pro¬ 
jection  in  the  wall,  comprising  a  space  of  perhaps  thirty 
feet,  where,  it  is  alleged,  stood  the  Colossus  of  Rhodes.  It 
is  quite  near  the  water  of  the  present  harbor,  and  the  state¬ 
ment  is  that  the  old  harbor  lay  inside,  being  now  occupied 
by  the  town  itself.1  The  island  and  the  village  looked  neat 
and  attractive  as  we  sailed  away.  We  passed  among  the 
rocky  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  and  toward  dark  we  saw 
to  the  south-west,  in  the  distance,  the  “  Isle  of  Patmos ;”  and 
we  were  not  far  from  Samos  when  I  left  the  deck.  The 
various  islands,  as  we  sailed  along,  showed,  at  least  so  far  as 
we  could  see,  few  inhabitants  and  scantv  cultivation. 

Early  in  the  morning  we  were  in  Smyrna.  The  city  pre¬ 
sented  a  fine  panorama,  as  seen  from  the  steamer.  In  an 

1  Mr.  Newton  (Travels  and  Discoveries  in  the  Levant,  i.  177)  thinks,  however, 
that  the  Colossus  stood  on  the  end  of  the  ancient  mole. 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST.  535 


hour  or  two  we  were  ashore,  aucl  climbed  the  high  hill,  or 
acropolis,  from  which  we  could  see  the  whole  city,  with  its 
two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants — this  “  Pearl  of  the  Ori¬ 
ent” — lying  beautifully  set  on  the  edge  of  the  bay  below. 
The  hill  is  covered  with  the  ruined  walls  of  a  fortification, 
some  portions  of  which  are  claimed  to  be  as  old  as  Lysan- 
der,  and  some  older  yet,  belonging  to  the  Cyclopean  times. 
It  was  to  me  a  more  interesting  thought  that  I  was  looking 
down  upon  the  home  of  Polycarp  and  of  John  the  apostle; 
and,  indeed,  the  place  where  I  stood  was  quite  near  the 
traditional  and  not  improbable  place  of  Polycarp’s  martyr¬ 
dom.  Over  back  of  this  hill,  at  some  little  distance,  is  point¬ 
ed  out,  without  probability,  the  site  of  one  of  the  “Seven 
Churches.” 

We  came  down  and  walked  around  the  city.  The  bazaar 
had  a  look  half  oriental  and  half  occidental.  We  met  many 
European  faces  about  the  city,  and  here  and  there  heard  the 
sound  of  a  piano.  It  seemed  good  to  hear  once  more  the 
whistle  of  a  locomotive.  There  were  also  some  of  the  most 
magnificent  specimens  of  camels  that  we  had  seen  any¬ 
where  upon  our  travels — large,  stately,  and  powerful. 

The  next  day,  in  company  with  a  large  party  of  the  steam¬ 
er’s  passengers,  we  took  the  railway  to  Ephesus,  some  forty- 
five  miles  to  the  south-east.  A  special  train  carried  us  over 
the  distance  in  an  hour  and  three-quarters.  It  seemed 
strange  indeed  to  be  travel  ling  by  steam  between  the  sites 
of  two  of  the  Seven  Churches  of  the  Apocalypse.  But  so  it 
was.  Our  track  lay  down  a  level  region,  enclosed  by,  and 
winding  among,  goodly  chains  of  hills.  Before  arriving  at 
the  station  we  could  see  the  high  piers  of  a  ruined  aqueduct, 
built  of  large  white  marble  blocks  from  some  older  building 
— Mr.  Wood  says,  the  Temple  of  Diana.  The  station  Ayasa- 
luk  was  a  mile  or  more  from  the  chief  ruins  of  the  great 


536 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


and  splendid  capital  city  of  Western  Asia.  Not  far  from  the 
station  were  mined  mosques,  on  the  minarets  of  which  some 
grave  old  storks  had  built  their  stick  nests,  almost  as  large  as 
a  Hottentot  kraal.  Passing  these,  we  soon  came  to  the  re¬ 
mains  of  a  public  road  or  street,  once  adorned  with  columns, 
and  extending  a  mile  or  more  to  the  Magnesian  Gate  of  the 
city.  Much  of  the  road  is  now  buried  several  feet  deep,  but 
recent  excavations  at  intervals  disclose  its  direction  and  con¬ 
nections.  Along  the  way  were  many  tombs  with  marble 
sarcophagi,  on  one  of  which  I  observed  a  Greek  inscription. 
The  remains  of  the  tomb  of  Androclus  are  to  be  seen,  sup¬ 
posed  bv  Mr.  Wood  to  date  back  one  thousand  vears  before 
Christ.  This,  though  it  might  be  young  for  Egypt,  is  old 
for  a  Grecian  city. 

The  street  led  to  the  opening  between  Mount  Prion  and 
Mount  Coressus,  on  the  latter  of  which  eminences  the  city 
was  chiefly  built,  and  here  were  the  noble  ruins  of  the  Mag¬ 
nesian  Gate.  From  this  point  onward,  as  the  way  curved 
steadily  to  the  right  around  Coressus,  the  excavations  re¬ 
vealed  a  continuous  mass  of  fallen  and  broken  marble  col¬ 
umns.  They  belonged  to  a  colonnade  which  ran  almost  en¬ 
tirely  around  the  mountain,  from  gate  to  gate  of  the  city. 
On  the  right  we  passed  the  large  and  solid  remains  of  what 
is  called  the  gymnasium.  Soon,  on  the  left,  appears  a  cir¬ 
cular  building,  partly  disinterred.  Next,  on  the  right,  was 
the  Odeum,  with  columns  of  Egyptian  syenite,  and  the  seats 
and  stairs  (quite  entire)  all  of  white  marble.  Various  other 
ruined  buildings  are  to  be  seen  here.  Then,  as  the  valley 
opens  out  from  between  the  hills  into  a  broad  level,  abun¬ 
dant  fragments  of  columns  lay  in  every  direction,  and  in 
one  place  a  white  marble  basin,  as  of  a  fountain,  twelve  feet 
in  diameter.  Next  we  pass  the  front  of  the  great  theatre, 
still  traceable  in  its  whole  plan,  and  capable  of  containing 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST  537 

twenty  -  four  thousand  persons1  —  the  very  place,  no  doubt, 
into  which  the  Ephesians  rushed  and  shouted,  “  Great  is 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians,”2  for  “  the  space  of  two  hours.”  It 
was  the  most  capacious  audience  -  room  ever  built  by  the 
Greeks.  Its  form  is  distinct,  and  a  cutting  that  has  been 
made  shows  the  steps  and  the  seats.  Beyond  this  come  the 
solid  remains  of  the  great  Stadium,  and  at  various  points  are 
to  be  seen  the  massive  walls  which  enclosed  the  city.  These 
ruins  are  remarkable,  both  for  their  great  extent  and  mag¬ 
nificence,  and  for  the  fact  that  no  other  city  has  been  built 
over  them.  At  length  our  way,  which  had  been  a  circle  of 
four  or  five  miles,  brought  us  back  to  a  place  near  the  point 
of  departure,  not  very  far  from  Ayasaluk;3  and  here,  within 
a  few  years,  have  been  found  the  remains  of  the  great  Tem¬ 
ple  of  Diana.  In  the  midst  of  the  barley-fields,  a  happy 
conjecture  or  calculation  led  Mr.  Wood,  in  1869  and  1870,  to 
commence  excavations ;  and  here,  at  a  depth  of  from  four¬ 
teen  to  twenty-one  feet  below  the  surface,  we  saw  sections  of 
fluted  columns  of  the  finest  white  marble,  nearly  seven  feet 
in  diameter,  and  other  remains  of  a  great  and  costly  build¬ 
ing.  Some  of  the  capitals  and  drums  of  these  columns, 
elaborately  carved  with  human  figures  and  other  ornamenta¬ 
tion,  which  were  taken  from  this  spot,  I  had  seen  in  the 
British  Museum.  Other  stones  from  it  were  built  into  the 
piers  of  the  aqueduct  near  by,  indicating  clearly  what  had 
been  the  fate  of  the  rest  of  the  building.  It  is  now  con¬ 
ceded  that  here  was  one  of  the  “seven  wonders  of  the 
world.”  I  left  Ephesus  with  the  thought  what  a  rich  har¬ 
vest  may  be  awaiting  the  antiquarian  explorer.  And  though 

1  Lewin,  in  his  Life  of  Paul,  gives  the  number  at  fifty  thousand ;  but  the 
twenty-four  thousand  of  Mr.  J.  T.  Wood  is  more  trustworthy. 

2  Acts  xix.  29-34. 

3  Corrupted,  as  some  say,  from  "Ay tog  9to\6yog  (holy  divine). 


538 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


the  interest  itself  is  far  less  than  attaches  to  Jerusalem  or 
Rome,  the  facilities  are  vastly  greater,  inasmuch  as  the  rel¬ 
ics  of  the  past  are  not  buried  deep  beneath  other  structures, 
tilled  with  living  occupants,  nor  hedged  around  with  super¬ 
stitious  reverence. 

Heavy  storms  on  the  Mediterranean  detained  our  con¬ 
necting  steamer  three  days  behind  her  time,  and  kept  us 
waiting  at  Smyrna  in  constant  #  expectation.  Then  we 
ploughed  through  the  Archipelago  under  a  pleasant  sun¬ 
shine,  over  a  smooth  sea,  and  among  a  multitude  of  islands 
which  seemed  almost  equally  rocky  and  hilly,  and  showed 
here  and  there  a  small  village  near  the  water. 

On  the  20th  of  April  we  were  sailing  into  the  magnificent 
harbor  of  the  great  city  that  connects  ancient  and  modern 
times,  that  brings  together  Asia  and  Europe,  the  East  and 
the  West,  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross.  The  panorama  of 
Constantinople,  as  seen  from  the  water,  is  superb,  rising 
gradually  enough  up  the  surrounding  hills  to  display  all 
of  its  beauty  and  none  of  its  meanness.  Quickly  carried 
through  the  annoyance  of  the  Custom-house  by  the  aid  of 
a  little  “  backsheesh/’  given  for  attempting  to  collect  on  ar¬ 
ticles  not  dutiable,  we  were  soon  established  at  the  Hotel 
Luxemburg,  in  Pera,  the  European  quarter.  We  hastened 
at  once  for  our  letters  to  the  Bible-house  in  Stamboul.  It 
is  a  neat  and  well -constructed  stone  building,  which  lias 
already  served  as  an  object-lesson  in  architecture,  and  looks 
as  if  the  Word  of  God  had  planted  a  firm  foot  in  Turkey. 
The  story  of  all  the  dela}Ts  and  struggles  for  its  site,  erection, 
and  work,  which  I  heard  on  the  spot,  would  answer  for  an 
appendix  to  the  Arabian  Nights.  We  found  ourselves  at 
once  among  friends  and  at  home,  and  entered  on  nearly  a 
week  of  incessant  sio-ht-seeino;  and  social  and  Christian  en- 
joyment.  We  had  come  through  the  delightful  Christian 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST.  541 


homes  of  Cairo,  Asyoot,  Nazareth,  Sidon,  Beyroot,  and  Trip¬ 
oli  ;  but  this  was  like  bringing  them  all  together.  We  soon 
learned  that  we  were  not  to  be  permitted  to  spend  any  more 
time  at  our  hotel,  and  that  before  our  departure  there  were 
not  nights  enough  for  us  to  accept  the  gentle  compulsions  of 
those  brethren  into  their  family  circles. 

The  first  day  brought  ns  into  the  noon  prayer-meeting 
which  has  long  been  regularly  maintained  at  the  Bible- 
house.  Here  were  six  Americans  connected  in  some  mode 
with  the  missionary  work,  and  one  native  pastor.  .  One  of 
these  brethren,  who  had  just,  returned  from  visiting  the 
churches,  was  disturbed  at  finding  some  just  such  intractable 
characters  as  are  found  in  the  home  churches.  Another 
lamented  the  slowness  of  the  work.  And  yet  some  of  those 
present  had  already  seen  seventy-five  churches,  with  more 
than  a  hundred  native  preachers,  and  all  the  appliances  of 
Christian  work — presses,  schools,  a  college,  and  theological 
schools — spring  up  in  Turkey.  We  were  able  to  refresh 
them  with  the  outside  view  of  their  great  enterprise. 

After  the  meeting  we  looked  over  the  building,  which  con¬ 
tained  great  piles  of  Bibles  in  different  tongues,  some  forty 
thousand  copies,  I  think  ;  a  magazine  of  Christian  literature 
so  formidable  that  the  sluggish  Turk,  three  months  before, 
roused  himself  in  vain  to  forbid  further  sales.  And  when 
the  official  was  courteously  shown  around  the  building,  he 
“  did  not  think  there  were  so  many  books  in  the  world.” 
Here,  too,  were  issuing  the  several  papers  and  magazines 
that  are  working  like  leaven  in  the  empire  already,  three  of 
which,  in  as  many  languages,  are  edited  by  Mr.  Greene. 

Next  morning  Dr.  Isaac  Bliss  accompanied  us  to  the  old 
seraglio,  on  an  eminence  near  the  entrance  of  the  Golden 
Horn.  It  was  formerly  the  chief  palace  of  the  Sultans  ;  but 
it  has  been  the  scene  of  so  much  slaughter  that  Abdul  Aziz, 

O  7 


542 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


it  is  thought,  had  a  horror  of  the  place,  and  had  abandoned 
it,  though  the  hnest  site,  for  various  other  palaces.  Here 
we  stood  under  the  “  Sublime  Porte,'’  a  grand  gate  which 
gives  name  to  the  government.  It  was  a  wide,  deep  porch, 
opening  on  the  inner  court  of  the  old  palace,  and  decorated 
with  gilding  and  ornamental  work.  This  was  the  place 
where  the  Sultan  used  to  issue  the  orders  that  made  Europe 
tremble.  We  entered  one  of  the  kiosks,  or  summer  resting- 
places  of  the  Sultan  on  his  pleasure  excursions.  It  was 
richly  and  tastefully  fitted  up.  Close  by  was  the  treasury, 
with  a  blaze  of  gold  and  diamonds,  emeralds,  rubies,  and 
the  like,  belonging  to  the  old  “  kings  barbaric,”  such  as  I 
never  saw,  except  in  the  Green  Vault  at  Dresden;  robes 
covered  with  square  yards  of  pearls  intermingled  with  oth¬ 
er  precious  stones ;  scores  of  pistols,  cimeters,  and  daggers, 
their  handles  glittering  with  diamonds;  head -ornaments 
tipped  with  bird-of -paradise  feathers,  and  lustrous  with  rows 
of  great  diamonds  as  large  as  the  finger’s  end ;  all  sorts  of 
ornaments  conceivable  and  inconceivable,  implements,  cas¬ 
kets,  small  articles  of  furniture,  so  thickly  covered  with  cost¬ 
ly  stones  that  you  could  hardly  tell  that  there  was  gold  be¬ 
neath  ;  and  a  throne  which  a  dragoman  present  affirmed  to 
be  worth  a  million  pounds. 

Of  course  we  visited  the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia,  Justinian’s 
Church,  famous  for  its  noble  dome  and  its  jasper  pillars 
from  Ephesus.  In  the  apse  overhead  can  still  be  traced 
the  outline  figure  (probably  of  the  Saviour)  with  outstretched 
arms,  not  quite  obliterated  by  the  Moslems.  After  visiting 
also  the  Mosque  Ahmediah,  distinguished  for  six  minarets 
without  and  four  enormous  pillars  within,  and  for  the  Sul¬ 
tan’s  preference  as  his  place  of  prayer;  the  equally  large 
and  more  tasteful  mosque,  Suleimanieh;  the  Hippodrome, 
showing  an  Egyptian  obelisk,  and  a  twisted  column  claimed 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST  543 


to  be  from  Delphi,  in  the  place  where  Xenophon  is  said  to 
have  harangued  his  soldiers  after  the  famous  retreat — we 
spent  the  evening  and  night  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Isaac  Bliss, 
in  Scutari.  Here  we  met,  at  an  evening  religious  service, 
the  missionary  families  of  the  neighborhood  for  a  little 
while,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening  in  home-like 
conversation,  varied  by  what  seemed  strange  in  Constanti¬ 
nople,  the  music  of  a  piano  and  the  flute. 

In  the  morning  Drs.  Bliss  and  Wood  accompanied  us  to 
the  “  Home,”  the  place  of  American  training  for  Armenian 
girls.  We  looked  into  its  ample  gardens,  where  the  girls 
have  their  flower-beds,  and  into  the  tasteful  parlors,  full  of 
American  reminiscences  and  suggestions;  met  the  teachers, 
and  went  to  hear  the  classes.  The  girls  recited  promptly 
their  Armenian  Bible-lesson  (the  “paralytic”);  sung  one 
piece,  also  in  their  native  tongue,  and  another  in  clear  Eng¬ 
lish  ;  showed  us  their  singularly  good  English  penmanship ; 
read  intelligently  in  English,  although  with  some  native  dif¬ 
ficulties  of  pronunciation ;  and,  in  response  to  their  teachers’ 
inquiry,  sent  their  warm  thanks  to  the  lady  friends  in  Amer¬ 
ica  who  have  remembered  and  provided  for  them.  Two  of 
the  Seniors  sent  flowers  by  me  to  an  American  lady,  with 
their  particular  regards  in  English. 

Crossing  from  Asia  to  Europe  in  a  caique,  we  took  the 
steamer  up  the  Bosphorus  till  we  could  see  the  entrance 
into  the  Black  Sea.  The  wind  was  raw,  but  the  sun  was 
clear,  and  the  water,  and  the  hill-sides  lined  with  line  build¬ 
ings  and  gardens,  gleamed  like  a  coronet  of  jewels.  Return¬ 
ing,  we  spent  an  hour  with  Mr.  Herrick,  whose  wife  was  a 
friend  and  relative  of  our  friends.  He  took  us  to  call  on 
Ahmed  Nefyk,  a  wealthy  Turkish  scholar  and  former  states¬ 
man,  who  has  been  minister  to  France,  has  visited  Ger¬ 
many,  and  speaks  several  languages.  We  looked  through 


544 


- 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 

his  costly  library  of  twelve  thousand  volumes,  in  various 
languages,  containing  many  tine  illustrated  works,  and  nu¬ 
merous  rare  and  remarkable  copies  of  the  Koran.  It  was 
a  new  aspect  of  the  Turk.  He  entertained  us  for  an  hour 
or  more  with  various  conversation,  accompanied  with  coffee, 
pipes,  and  tea,  and  at  parting  cordially  invited  us  to  come 
again. 

Robert  College  was  the  next  object  of  interest,  where  a 


THE  BOSPHORUS. 


warm  welcome  awaited  us  from  old  friends  and  new.  It 
stands  on  a  commanding  and  sightly  eminence,  the  monu¬ 
ment  of  Christian  progress,  and  a  quiet  influence  of  mighty 
power.  It  was  a  brief  but  memorable  interview  that  we 
had  with  its  scholarly  corps  of  instructors  and  their  wives, 
and  a  cheerful  sight  to  see  its  two  hundred  and  fifty  stu¬ 
dents,  of  thirteen  different  nationalities.  The  leaven  is  evi- 


COMING  OUT  OF  ANTIQUITY  AND  THE  EAST.  545 


dently  working.  From  the  roof  of  the  building  there  are 
magnificent  views  lip,  down,  and  across  the  Bosphorus.  In 
full  sight,  and  close  by,  was  the  place  where  Darius  landed 
in  Europe,  and  where  Xenophon  crossed;  and  directly  be¬ 
low,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  by  the  water’s  edge,  a  for¬ 
tress  built  by  the  Turkish  Sultan  for  the  capture  of  Constan¬ 
tinople  forty  years  before  our  country  was  discovered.  The 
young  American  college  commands  the  old  Turkish  fort. 

From  the  college  we  were  taken  by  the  Bev.  Mr.  Petti- 
bone  to  his  home  at  Bev.  Dr.  Schauffier’s.  Here  we  sawT 
the  veteran  translator,  full  of  glow  and  brightness  still ;  the 
man  who  has  made  his  several  versions  of  the  Holy  Book, 
and  whose  wife  opened  the  first  girls’  school  in  the  empire. 
We  went  with  him  to  his  evening  meeting,  where  it  was 
hard  to  say  whether  his  words  were  more  remarkable  for 
their  unction,  or  for  their  sprightliness  and  brilliancy.  I 
asked  him  in  conversation  what  he  was  going  to  do,  now 
that  his  great  work  of  translating  was  completed.  “  Going 
to  Austria,”  was  the  quick  reply,  “  to  help  my  son  haul  in 
the  net.”  He  has  since  been  there.  A  serene  old  age. 

Another  day  of  busy  sight-seeing  followed,  greatly  facili¬ 
tated,  as  heretofore,  by  the  guidance  of  our  kind  and  expert 
friends,  who  were  equally  at  home  in  the  language,  the  cus¬ 
toms,  and  the  localities  of  the  city.  After  exploring  the 
great  bazaar  and  its  vast  variety  of  wares,  oriental  and  oc¬ 
cidental,  ancient  and  modern,  and  looking  at  various  other 
objects  of  curiosity,  we  started  to  see  the  Sultan  go  to  his 
mosque,  this  being  the  Mohammedan  sacred  day.  It  is 
never  known  long  beforehand  to  which  he  will  go.  We 
went  round  to  the  principal  palace,  a  fine  white  marble 
building  on  the  water’s  side,  and  waited  in  the  neighbor¬ 
ing  street,  on  which  the  land  gate  opens.  It  was  expected 
that  he  would  go  to  the  noon  prayers,  but  we  waited  until 

35 


546 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  PALESTINE. 


half-past  two.  There  was  a  large  show  of  soldiers,  infantry 
and  cavalry,  a  great  crowd  of  people,  in  carriages  and  on 
foot,  a  good  deal  of  the  usual  hustling  about,  occasional 
bursts  of  music,  and  an  immense  cloud  of  blowing  dust. 
But  at  length  the  street  was  all  watered,  the  track  spread 
with  fresh  gravel  made  level  by  the  broom,  all  other  dirt 
cleared  off  in  baskets,  and  the  signal  sounded.  The  soldiers 
fell  into  line,  and  presented  arms  as  the  cavalry  escort  came 
slowly  on,  followed  by  a  small  knot  of  civil  officers,  and 
among  them  the  Sultan’s  eldest  son,  all  on  horseback.  Then 
came  a  splendid  tall  gray  horse,  raising  the  rider  conspicu¬ 
ous  above  all  the  rest  of  the  company.  The  rider  passed 
within  a  few  feet  of  us — a  stout  man,  with  strong,  large  feat¬ 
ures,  rather  pale,  his  grayish  dark  hair  covered  with  the  usu¬ 
al  tarboush  or  fez,  himself  clad  in  a  long  blue  frock-coat, 
with  gold-laced  collar  and  blue  European  pantaloons.  His 
horse  was  conspicuously  decorated  with  gold  mountings,  and 
the  heavy  yellow  stirrups  were  apparently  of  the  same  metal. 
It  "was,  of  course,  the  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz.  The  soldiers  re¬ 
ceived  him  with  a  shout,  both  at  the  beginning  and  end  of 
the  ride.  Otherwise  all  was  quiet.  lie  moved  by  us  on  a 
walk  to  a  small  mosque  not  more  than  forty  rods  from  the 
palace.  The  young  missionary  who  stood  by  my  side,  un¬ 
noticed  in  the  crowd,  was  helping  wield  the  quiet  influence 
before  which  this  glittering  parade  was  hastening  to  its 
doom.  But  we  little  thought  at  the  time  that  Abdul  Aziz 
himself,  the  centre  of  all  this  pomp  and  power,  would  in 
two  short  years  be  dethroned,  and  dying  of  self  -inflicted 
scissor- wounds — or  otherwise. 

This  showy  pageant,  veiling  a  tragedy  at  hand,  was  the 
end  of  our  Oriental  sights.  After  a  night  in  another  mis¬ 
sionary  home  (Mr.  Greene’s),  we  bid  farewell  to  these  lands 
of  the  past,  and  set  our  faces  toward  the  land  of  the  future. 


APPENDIX. 


RECORD  OF  THERMOMETER  (FAHRENHEIT)  FROM  SUEZ  TO  SIDON. 

1874. 


Sunday ,  February  8th . 

Wady  Sudr . 9  a.m.,  52° 

“  “  2  p.m.,  60 

“  “  9  p.m.,  52 

Partially  cloudy  all  day. 

Monday ,  February  9  th. 


Wady  Sudr . 7  a.m.,  34° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  58 

Wady  Gharandel . 9  p.m.,  43 

Clear.  In  the  sun  at  noon,  98°. 

Tuesday ,  February  10  th. 

Wady  Gharandel . 7  a.m.,  37° 

Wady  Ethal . 2  p.m.,  59 

By  the  sea . 9  p.m.,  51 

Clear  all  day. 


Wednesday ,  February  11  th. 

Mouth  of  Taiyibeh,by  the  sea. 7  a.m.,  44° 


Wady  Shellal . 2  p.m.,  60 

Wady  Nugb  Buderah . 9  p.m.,  54 


Clear.  In  the  sun  at  noon,  96°. 

Thursday ,  February  12 th. 

Wady  Nugb  Buderah . 7  a.m.,  43° 

Wady  Mukatteb . 2  p.m.,  58 

Wady  Feiran . 9  p.m.,  48 

Clear.  In  the  sun  at  noon,  102°. 

Friday ,  February  13  th. 

Wady  Feiran . 7  a.m.,  48° 

“  “  . 2  p.m.,  60 

“  “  . 7  p.m.,  55 


Saturday ,  February  14  th. 

Wady  Feiran . 7  a.m.,  43° 

“  “  2  p.m.,  65 

Oasis  of  Feiran . 9  p.m.,  44 

Sunday ,  February  \oth. 

Oasis  of  Feiran . 7  a.m.,  40° 

“  “  . 2  p.m.,  65 

“  “  . 9  p.m.,  51 

Monday ,  February  16  th. 

Oasis  of  Feiran . 7  a.m.,  46° 

Side  of  Mount  Serbal . 2  p.m.,  62 

Oasis  of  Feiran . 1  p.m.,  49 

Partially  cloudy.  Thermometer  at 
the  summit  of  Serbal,  37°  at  noon. 

Tuesday ,  February  17 th. 


Oasis  of  Feiran . 7  a.m.,  44° 

Wady  Feiran . 2  p.m.,  63 

Wady  Solaf . 9  p.m.,  45 

Partially  cloudy.  Wind. 

Wednesday ,  February  1 8th. 

Wady  Solaf . 7  a.m.,  36° 

Wady  Ilcbran . 2  p.m.,  68 

Wady  Solaf . 9  p.m.,  46 

Thursday ,  February  19 th. 

Wady  Solaf . 9  a.m.,  32° 

Nugb  Hawa . 2  p.m.,  59 

Convent  of  Sinai . 9  p.m.,  48 


Thermometer  in  the  sun  at  eleven 
o’clock,  99°.  1 


548 


APPENDIX. 


Friday ,  February  20 th. 

Convent  of  Sinai . 7  a.m.,  48° 

Summit  of  Ras  Sufsafeli  . .  .2  p.m.,  58 
Camp  near  the  convent  ...  .9  p.m.,  46 

Thermometer  65°  on  the  summit  of 
Mount  Sinai  at  eleven  o’clock. 

Saturday ,  February  21s/. 

Camp  near  the  convent.  .  .  .7  a.m.,  39° 
“  “  “  .2  p.m.,  68 

“  “  “  ...  .9  p.m.,  46 

Sunday ,  February  22c/. 

Camp  at  Sinai . 7  a.m.,  51° 

“  “  . 2  p.m.,  67 

“  “  9  p.m.,  57 

Slightly  cloudy  in  the  afternoon. 
Monday ,  February  23c/. 


Camp  at  Sinai . 7  a.m.,  51° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  69 

Wady  Zuggerah . 9  p.m.,  58 


Clear.  High  wind  in  the  morning. 
Tuesday,  February  At  It. 


Wady  Zuggerah . 7  a.m.,  40° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  70 

Wady  Sa‘al . 9  p.m.,  54 


Slightly  cloudy  in  the  afternoon. 
Wednesday ,  February  25 th. 


Wady  Sakai . 7  a.m.,  49° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  68 

Wady  es  Sheikh . 9  p.m.,  48 

Slight  clouds. 


Thursday ,  February  2  6  th. 


Wady  es  Sheikh . 7  a.m.,  40° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  67 

Wady  Lebweh . 9  p.m.,  42 


Slight  clouds  in  the  afternoon. 


Friday ,  February  27 th. 

Wady  Lebweh . 

,  .7  A.M.,  38° 

En  route . 

Wady  Siiwuk . . 

,  .9  p.m.,  55 

Increasing  cloudiness. 

Rain  in  the 

afternoon  and  in  the  night. 

Saturday ,  February 

28  th. 

Wady  Siiwuk . 

.  .7  a.m.,  49° 

En  route . 

Wady  Bed  a . . 

Broken  clouds.  High  wind. 

Sunday ,  March  1st. 

Wady  Beda . . 

.  .7  a.m.,  43° 

U  U 

.  .2  p.m.,  64 

u  u 

Clear  again. 

Monday ,  March  2  d. 

Wady  Beda . . 

.  .7  a.m.,  40° 

Wady  Ibn  Sukr . 

Wadv  Beda . 

.  .9  p.m.,  56 

Tuesday ,  March  3  d. 

Wady  Beda . . 

.  .7  a.m.,  54° 

Above  Er  Rakineh . 

.  .2  p.m.,  72 

Abu  Nutheigineh . 

Threatening  clouds.  Sprinkling  at 

night. 


Wednesday ,  March  4 th. 


Abu  Nutheigineh . 7  a.m.,  50° 

En  route,  desert . 2  p.m.,  76 

Camp,  desert . 9  p.m.,  57 


Threatening  clouds.  Rain  in  the  af¬ 
ternoon. 

Thursday ,  March  5 th. 


Camp . 7  a.m.,  53° 

En  route,  desert . 2  p.m.,  69 

Nukhl . 9  p.m.,  58 


Showers  in  the  morning.  High  cold 
wind  in  the  afternoon. 


APPENDIX. 


549 


Friday ,  March  6 ill. 

Nukhl . 7  a.m.,  38° 

“  2  p.m.,  59 

“  9  p.m.,  47 

Clear  again. 

Saturday ,  March  *lth. 

Nukhl . 7  a.m.,  34° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  68 

Camp,  13  miles  from  Nukhl. 9  p.m.,  47 

Sunday ,  March  8  th. 

Camp,  13  miles  from  Nukhl. 7  a.m.,  42° 
“  “  “  “  .2  p.m.,  57 

“  “  “  .9  p.m.,  44 

Clear  and  windy. 


Sunday ,  March  15  th. 

Dhahariyeh . 7  a.m.,  58° 

Hebron . 2  p.m.,  68 

“  9  p.m.,  51 

Dense  fog  in  the  morning.  Partially 
cloudy  through  the  day.  Barometer 
fell  from  27.75  in  the  morning  to  26.84 
at  noon  and  26.85  at  night. 

Monday ,  March  16//t. 

Hebron . 7  a.m.,  43° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  . . 

Jerusalem . 9  p.m.,  50 

Snow,  sleet,  and  rain  in  showers  all 
day,  with  bitterly  piercing  wind. 


Monday ,  March  9  th, 

Camp,  13  miles  from 

Nukhl. 7  a.m.,  33° 

En  route . 

. 2  p.m.,  64 

Wady  Slieraif . 

. 9  p.m.,  54 

Tuesday ,  March  10  th. 

Wady  Slieraif . 

. 7  a.m.,  39° 

En  route . 

. 2  p.m.,  59 

Wady  Muweileh. . . . 

Windy.  Showers 

in  the  forenoon. 

Wednesday ,  March  11  th. 

Wady  Muweileh. .  . . 

. 7  a.m.,  38° 

En  route . 

. 2  P.M.,  73 

El  Birein . 

. 9  p.m.,  52 

Thursday ,  March  12  th. 

El  Birein . 

. 7  a.m.,  43° 

Sebaita . 

Ruhaibeh . 

. 9  p.m.,  53 

Friday ,  March  13 th. 

Ruhaibeh . 

. 7  a.m.,  43° 

En  route . 

. 2  p.m.,  76 

Camp,  Wady  Seba. . 

. 9  p.m.,  58 

Saturday ,  March  14  th. 

Wady  Seba . 

Dhahariyeh . 

. 2  p.m.,  68 

U 

. 9  p.m.,  49 

Tuesday ,  March  1 7  th. 

Jerusalem . .  .  .  .7  a.m.,  46° 

“  2  p.m.,  51 

“  9  p.m.,  46 

Rain  in  showers  all  day. 

t 

Wednesday ,  March  18 th. 

Jerusalem . 7  a.m.,  44° 

“  2  p.m.,  46 

“  9  p.m.,  39 

Snowing  all  day ;  five  or  six  inches 
of  heavy  snow  on  the  ground. 

Thursday ,  March  19  th. 

Jerusalem . 7  a.m.,  42° 

“  2  p.m.,  53 

“  9  p.m.,  46 

Clearing  weather. 

Friday ,  March  20  th. 

Jerusalem . 7  a.m.,  45° 

“  2  p.m.,  48 

“  9  p.m.,  46 

Showers  in  the  forenoon ;  clear  in 
the  afternoon. 

Saturday ,  March  21s/. 

Jerusalem . 7  a.m.,  52° 

“  2  p.m.,  56 

“  9  p.m.,  49 


550 


APPENDIX. 


Sunday ,  March  22 d. 

Jerusalem . 7  a.m.,  52° 

“  2  p.m.,  54 

“  9  p.m.,  47 

Partially  cloudy. 

Monday ,  March  23 d. 


Jerusalem . 7  a.m.,  50° 

Bethlehem . 2  p.m.,  53 

Mar  Saba . 9  p.m.,  52 

Rain  and  hail.  Strong  wind. 

Tuesday ,  March  24th. 

Mar  Saba . 7  a.m.,  57° 

Lower  fords  of  Jordan . 2  p.m.,  72 

Jericho . 9  p.m.,  51 


Threatening  clouds.  Sprinkling. 
Wednesday ,  March  25th. 


Jericho . 7  a.m.,  55° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  75 

Bethel . 9  p.m.,  50 

Cloudy.  Rain  in  the  afternoon. 

Thursday ,  March  26th. 

Bethel . 7  a.m.,  52° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  68 

Nablous . 9  p.m.,  58 

Cloudy.  Rain  early  in  the  morning, 


and  in  the  afternoon. 

Friday ,  March  21th. 

Nablous . 7  a.m.,  52° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  62 

Jenin . 9  p.m.,  57 

Heavy  showers  of  rain  and  hail. 


Sunday ,  March  29 th. 

Nazareth . 7  a.m.,  51° 

“  2  p.m.,  57 

“  9  p.m.,  52 

Clearing  and  clear. 


Monday ,  March  30 th. 


Nazareth . 

. 7 

A.M., 

52 

En  route . 

2 

P.M., 

60 

Tiberias . 

. 9 

P.M., 

68 

Clear. 

Tuesday , 

March  31.<tf. 

Tiberias . 

. 7 

A.M., 

66' 

Sea  of  Tiberias  . . 

2 

P.M., 

78 

Tiberias . 

. 9 

P.M., 

71 

Clear.  Thermometer  100°  in  the 
sun  at  noon. 


Wednesday ,  April  1  st. 

Tiberias . 7  a.m.,  63° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  71 

Kefr  Menda . 9  p.m.,  55 

Thursday,  April  2d. 

Kefr  Menda . 7  a.m.,  60° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  72 

Near  Acre . 9  p.m.,  65 

Occasional  clouds.  A  few  drops  of 
rain. 

Friday ,  Apjril  3  d. 


Camp  near  Acre . 7  a.m.,  62° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  78 

Tyre . 9  p.m.,  62 


Occasional  clouds.  Showers  in  the 
afternoon. 


Saturday ,  March  28 th. 

Jenin . 7  a.m.,  49° 

Shuncm . 2  p.m.,  57 

Nazareth . 9  p.m.,  53 

Heavy  showers  at  intervals  all  day. 


Saturday ,  April  4tli. 

Tyre . 7  a.m.,  62° 

En  route . 2  p.m.,  67 

Sidon . 9  p.m.,  54 

Occasional  clouds. 


INDEX 


Aaii-Hotep,  74. 

Aalimes,  75. 

Abdul  Aziz,  546. 

Aboo  Kebeer,  141. 

Abraham,  116. 

Abydos,  62,  80. 

Acacias,  216,  233,  241,  299,  300,  315, 
345. 

Achzib,  519. 

Acre,  518. 

Ai,  456. 

Ain  Gadis,  364  seq. 
xYjrood,  169. 

Alexander,  27,  48,  470,  520. 

Alexandria,  26  seq. 

Ancestors,  chamber  of,  80. 

Anemones,  405,  406,  424,  456. 

Apepi  (Apappos),  90. 

Aperu,  63,  77,  90,  124. 

Arbain,  276. 

Arbela,  512. 

Arts  in  ancient  Egypt,  69  seq. 

Asses  in  ancient  Egypt,  116. 

Assouan,  39,  63. 

Baal-Zephon,  170 
Babylon,  in  Egypt,  36. 

Bakery,  ancient,  119. 

Bazaar,  33. 

Beer-sheba,  402  seq. 

Beni-Hassan,  62,  70. 

Bethany,  442. 

Bethel,  458. 

Bethlehem,  444  seq. 

Bey  root,  528  seq. 

Birein,  365,  379  seq. 


Bitter  Lakes,  148, 158. 

Book  of  the  Dead,  126-128. 

Boulak,  Museum  of,  38. 

Bricks,  Burnt,  84. 

Brugsch’s  theory  of  the  Exodus,  170 
seq. 

Bubastis,  140. 

Butiha,  497. 

Buttauf,  516. 

Cairo,  30,  33  seq. 

Camel,  117, 191, 192. 

Cana,  486,  516. 

Canaan,  63,  76. 

Canal,  90, 162. 

Capernaum,  499  seq. 

Capernaum,  fountain  of,  506. 
Catacombs  of  Rome,  428,  431. 

Cataract  of  the  Nile,  39. 

Censorinus,  85,  86,  96. 

Cephrenes,  38,  69. 

Chaloof,  158-162. 

Champollion,  98. 

Cheops,  55. 

Chorazin,  501. 

Chronology,  78,  94. 

Christianity  in  Egypt,  49  seq. 

Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  428  seq. 
Circumcision,  ancient,  114. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  85,  88. 
Cleopatra’s  Needle,  49  seq. 

Climate  of  Egypt,  47. 

Conquests,  Egyptian,  75. 
Constantinople,  538  seq. 

Contellet  Garaiyeh,  336. 

Contract,  travelling,  152. 


552 


INDEX. 


Convent  of  Bethlehem,  444. 

Convent  of  Mar  Saba,  446. 

Convent  of  Nazareth,  479. 

Convent  of  St.  Catherine,  263  seq .,  279 
seq. 

Copper,  223-225. 

Copts,  36,  39,  48,  49. 

Cotton,  29. 

Crocodiles,  40. 

Cush,  63. 

Paiiabeeah,  59. 

Dayr  el  Medeeneh,  62. 

Dead  Sea,  the,  446,  449. 

Delta,  the,  29,  41. 

Denderah,  52,  62. 

Desert  of  Et  Tih,  340  seq. 

Dhahariyeh,  406. 

Dibs,  530. 

Diocletian  Era,  86. 

Dome  of  the  Rock,  435. 

Doric  Column,  62. 

Dynasties,  Egyptian,  80-83. 

Ebal,  Mount,  466. 

Egypt,  history  of,  48  seq. 

Egyptian  words  in  Hebrew,  203  seq. 

El  Aujeli,  381. 

El  Hesweh,  245. 

El  Murkha,  213. 

Elusa,  401. 

Empires  :  Old,  Middle,  New,  75. 
Encampment  by  the  Sea,  212. 

En  Rogel,  438. 

Ephesus,  535  seq. 

Ephesus,  temple  of,  537. 

Er  Rahah,  263,  268. 

Erweis  el  Ebeirig,  289  seq. 

Esdraelon,  475,  478. 

E  th  am,  167. 

Eusebius,  79. 

Exodus,  the,  86  seq.,  164  seq. 

Exodus,  the  time  of  the,  93,  95. 

Famine,  121. 

Fayoom,  41. 


Feiran,  oasis  of,  243-246. 

Fertility  of  Palestine,  450. 

Flowers  of  Palestine,  446,  455. 
Fords  at  Suez,  176. 

Fortresses,  chain  of,  76,  90. 

French  in  Egypt,  the,  50. 

Galilee,  Sea  of,  489,  490,  493  seq. 
Gamala,  491. 

Geezeh,  pyramids  of,  37. 
Gennesaret,  509. 

Gergesa,  494. 

Gerizim,  Mount,  466. 

Gethsemane,  442. 

Gilboa,  476. 

Gilgal,  452,  455. 

Goshen,  129  seq. 

Gypsaria,  336. 

Harbayt,  142. 

Hares,  301. 

Hawwarah,  199. 

Hebrew  words  in  Egypt,  101  seq. 
Hebron,  411  seq. 

Heliopolis,  36,  49. 

Hesy  el  Khattatin,  242. 
Hieroglyphics,  51. 

High-water  at  Suez,  177  seq. 
Hinnom,  valley  of,  424. 

Hissarlik,  109. 

Horses  in  ancient  Egypt,  116. 

Ibexes,  300,  308,  338. 

Inscriptions,  Sinaitic,  226  seq. 
Irbid,  512. 

Irrigation,  44. 

Ismailia,  146. 

Israelites,  number  of,  173. 

Isthmus  of  Suez,  160-162. 

Jacob,  time  of,  89. 

Jacob’s  Well,  464. 

Jebel  Atakah,  148, 150. 

Jebel  Bisher,  194. 

Jebel  Hammam  Farun,  211. 

Jebel  Magrah,  368. 


INDEX. 


553 


Jebel  Musa,  265  scq. 

Jebel  Serbal,  248  seq. 

Jebel  Tahuneh,  246,  262. 

Jenin,  475. 

Jericho,  452  seq. 

Jerusalem,  428  seq. 

Jewelry,  ancient,  74. 

Jews  in  Egypt,  100. 

Jezreel,  476,  478. 

Joseph,  time  of,  89. 

Joseph  :  his  history  illustrated,  118. 
Joseph,  tomb  of,  464. 

Josephus,  91. 

Judah,  68,  98,  99. 

Julius  Africanus,  79,  88. 

Juniper,  305. 

Kadesh,  366  seq. 

Karnak,  56,  63,  77. 

Kedron,  442. 

Kefr  Kenna,  486. 

Kefr  Menda,  517. 

Kerazeh,  501. 

Khalasah,  401. 

Khan  Minyeh,  509. 

Khita,  7  6  seq. 

Khurbet  Cana,  516. 

Kibroth-Hattaavah,  291,  298. 

Lebanon,  533. 

Lepsius,  91. 

Lesseps,  De,  147. 

Lily  of  the  field,  456. 

Lysa,  338. 

Macdonald,  Major,  222. 

Magdala,  491,  510,  512. 

Manetho,  78  seq.,  91. 

Manna,  277. 

Manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament,  49. 
Marah,  199  seq. 

Mar  Saba,  446,  449. 

Matareeah,  138. 

Mauriac,  M.  de,  149. 

Medeenet  Haboo,  62. 

Megiddo,  476. 


Mejdel,  510,  512. 

Memnonium,  62. 

Menephta,  62,  77,  89,  91,  92,  93. 
Menophres,  86,  87,  96. 

Meshrifeh,  388. 

Metallurgy,  ancient,  111. 

Midianites,  117. 

Migdol,  167. 

Mining,  ancient,  285  seq. 

Mirage,  336. 

Missionaries,  464,  484,  527,  528,  530, 
533,  541  seq. 

Monuments  of  Egypt,  51. 

Moses’s  Wells,  179. 

Mosques,  Egyptian,  35. 

Mourning,  Egyptian,  120. 

Museum  at  Boulak,  38. 

Muweileh,  356  seq. 

Nabatilean  alphabet,  230. 

Nain,  479. 

Nazareth,  479. 

Nile,  the,  39  seq.,  59  seq. 

Nile  valley  deposit,  84. 

Nugb  Buderah,  217. 

Nugb  Emreikheh,  342,  845. 

Nugb  Gebat,  288. 

Nugb  Hawa,  261. 

Nugb  Rakineh,  317  seq. 

Nugb  Wursali,  342. 

Obelisks,  7 5  scq. 

Olives,  Mount  of,  442. 

On,  139. 

Palm-tree,  45. 

Pharaoh,  65  seq. 

Pharbsethus,  142. 

Philse,  39,  63. 

Pihahiroth,  169. 

Ploughing,  43,  408. 

Pompey’s  Pillar,  27. 

Pool  of  Siloam,  438. 

Pools  of  Solomon,  418. 

Quarries  of  Jerusalem,  436  seq. 


♦ 


t 


INDEX. 


554 

Rachel’s  tomb,  414,  444. 

Rain  in  Egypt,  41,  42. 

Rains,  226,  307,  308,  319,  323,  359,  417, 
418,  423,439,  458. 

Raineses,  90,  97, 123,  146,  166. 

Rameses  II.,  62,  66,  76. 

Red  Sea,  170  seq. 

Rise  of  the  Nile,  42. 

Rhodes,  534. 

Road,  Roman,  393,  417,  519,  524. 

Road  to  Syria,  144. 

Rock  strata  in  Feiran,  238. 

Rome,  39  seq. 

Rosetta  stone,  63. 

Route  of  Israel,  391  seq. 

Ruhaibeh,  Rehoboth,  398  seq. 

Rutennu,  76. 

Sais,  29. 

Saitis,  89. 

Sakkarali,  table  of,  80. 

Samaria,  468. 

Samaritans,  464  seq. 

San,  77,  89, 143. 

Sarabit  el  Khadim,  94,  308-313. 
Sarepta,  524. 

Sea  of  Galilee,  490  seq. 

Sebaita,  386.  , 

Serbal,  248. 

Seti  I.,  63,  76. 

Shafra,  38. 

Shaluma,  77,  88. 

Shechem,  463  seq. 

Sheikh  Mislih,  328. 

Sheikh  Selim,  327. 

Sheikh  Suleiman,  331,  339,  407. 
Shepherd  kings,  91. 

Shishak,  63,  78,  98. 

Shunem,  478. 

Sidon,  538. 

Sikket  Shoeib,  269. 

Siloam,  438. 

Silsileh,  63. 

Slavery,  ancient  Egyptian,  116. 

Smyrna,  535  seq. 

Smyth,  Piazzi,  52  (note). 


Snow,  416,  417,  442  seq. 

Solomon’s  Pools,  418. 

Sothic  cycle,  85-87. 

South  Country,  the,  356  seq. 

St.  Sophia,  Mosque  of,  542. 

Succoth,  166. 

Suez,  148. 

Suez,  Isthmus  of,  155. 

Suez,  plain  of,  163. 

Sugar-mills  of  Egypt,  44. 

Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  546. 

Sycamores,  471. 

Sychar,  464. 

Syncellus,  79. 

Syrians,  76,  91. 

Taanach,  476. 

Tabigah,  505. 

Tahuneh,  246. 

Tamarisk,  277. 

Tarichea,  491. 

Taskmasters,  120. 

Tell  el  Kebeer,  145. 

Tell  el  Yahoodeh,  100. 

Tell  Hum,  495. 

Temple,  the,  434  seq. 

Temples,  Egyptian,  55. 

Thebes,  36,  62. 

Theon,  86,  96. 

Thothmes  III.,  76,  86,  363. 

Tiberias,  491,  511.. 

Tirhaka,  61. 

Titus,  Arch  of,  24. 

Tomb  of  Joseph,  464. 

Tomb  of  Rachael,  419,  444. 

Tombs  of  Jerusalem,  439  seq. 
Travelling  arrangements,  195. 

Tripoli,  533. 

Troy,  109,  111. 

Turin  papyrus,  80. 

Turquoise,  223. 

Tyre,  520  seq. 

\ 

Valley  of  Jehoshapliat,  the,  420, 
424. 

Vettius  Valens,  85. 


Versions  of  Scripture,  49. 
Villages,  Egyptian,  30. 


INDEX. 


555 


Wady  Ain,  364  seq. 

Wady  Ajeleh,  251. 

Wady  Bark,  306. 

Wady  Berrah,  304. 

Wady  Burghais,  409. 

Wady  Ethal,  211. 

Wady  Fahdi,  335,  337. 
Wady  Feiran,  238,  254. 
Wady  Garaiyeh,  336,  342. 
Wady  Gharandel,  203-207. 
Wady  Gudheirah,  341. 
Wady  el  Haibekeh,  341. 
Wady  Hamam,  512. 

Wady  Hamr,  211,  314. 
Wady  Hebran,  257  seq. 
Wady  Ikhrimm,  335. 

Wady  Isthmid,  257. 

Wady  Jaifeh,  340. 

Wady  Jeraifek,  341. 

Wady  Khalil,  405. 

Wady  Khumileh,  341. 

Wady  Lussan,  339. 

Wady  Macheira,  232. 

Wady  Maghara,  75,  94. 
Wady  Mayin,  337,  338,  342. 
Wady  Mukatteb,  226. 

Wady  Muweileh,  340. 


Wady  Nasb,  316. 

Wady  Oesch,  304. 

Wady  Sa‘al,  289. 

Wady  Sebaiyeh,  270  seq. 

Wady  Seisab,  339. 

Wady  Shebeikeh,  211. 

Wady  Sheikh,  255,  304. 

Wady  Shellal,  216. 

Wady  Solaf,  284  seq. 

Wady  Sudr,  190. 

Wady  Suwiik,  313-315. 

Wady  Taiyibeh,  211. 

Wady  Telmin,  208. 

Wady  T‘lah,  262. 

Wady  Tumilat,  144. 

Wady  Useit,  208.  • 

Wady  Zuggerah,  285-287. 
Wailing-place,  Jews’,  438. 

Wall  of  Jerusalem,  429  seq.,  438. 
Wandering,  Desert  of  the,  340  seq. 
Water,  193,  194,  232,  273,  304-306, 
316,  318,  320,  334,  337,  342-348,  350, 
351  seq. 

Watiyeh,  244,  301. 

Wine  of  Palestine,  415,  416. 
Winter-travelling  in  Palestine,  418. 
Wooden  statue,  37,  69. 


Writing,  110. 


Zoan,  122,  170. 


THE  END. 


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DATE  DUE 

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 -  -  . . 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  INU.S.A 

